France’s Framatome on 19 February signed a series of service contracts with Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) for the long-term operation of the EPR at unit 3 of the Olkiluoto nuclear plant in Finland.
The contracts cover nuclear plant outage and maintenance scopes, including engineering, I&C and non-destructive testing services over an extended period.
“These contracts mark an important step as we work with TVO to prepare for the operation of the EPR at Olkiluoto 3,” said Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome.
Framatome has set up Framatome Finland Oy; a new subsidiary locally organised to execute the contracts and to foster growth in Northern Europe.
Framatome said the subsidiary “capitalises on the skills and competencies developed by our teams during the Olkiluoto 3 project and consolidates the local supply chain”.
“Our presence in Finland will allow us to effectively deliver these service contracts for the Olkiluoto 3 EPR and positions us to further support our utility partners in Finland and Sweden,” noted Catherine Cornand, senior executive vice president of Framatome’s Installed Base Business Unit.
The Finnish government granted TVO an operating licence for the unit in March 2019. But fuel loading has been delayed until June 2020 because of slow progress of the system tests and problems with spare part deliveries.
Grid connection of Olkiluoto 3 is scheduled for November, with the start of regular electricity production expected in March 2021.
Framatome is contributing to the construction and commissioning of six EPRs: two at Taishan in China, one at Olkiluoto in Finland, one at Flamanville in France and two at Hinkley Point C in the UK.
In December 2018, unit 1 of the Taishan plant in China's Guangdong province became the first EPR to enter commercial operation, and Taishan 2 followed in September last year.
Construction of the Flamanville 3 EPR started in December 2007. Hot testing of the reactor has recently been completed, and start-up is scheduled for 2022.
