A French-German consortium of Framatome-Siemens has been contracted to supply the main instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant in Finland.
Fennovima owns the project to build a 1200MW Russian-designed VVER reactor in Pyhäjoki, northern Finland. Fennovoima is a Finnish-Russian consortium whose owners include Russian state nuclear company Rosatom, Finnish power company Fortum and stainless steel maker Outokumpu among other firms.
Under the contract signed with main building contractor Titan-2, Framatome will supply the safety automation systems for the plant, while Siemens will be the operational I&C systems supplier.
“I&C contract is an important milestone for the entire Hanhikivi-1 project," commented Jouni Takakarhu, project director at Fennovoima, which was involved in the supplier selection.
The contract award also means that all the major suppliers have been selected and that design and licensing work can proceed according to schedule, Takakarhu added.
Timo Okkonen, COO of Fennovoima, said that Framatome and Siemens would be involved in design, implementation and analysis of the automation solutions for the Hanhikivi 1 plant.
"Our goal is to get the construction licence in 2021," Okkonen said. "Before that, the preliminary safety analysis report must be completed and submitted to [Finland's] Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK)."
Fennovoima is also working to prepare its supply chain for the construction phase.
Commercial operation of Hanhikivi 1 is expected to begin in 2028, according to the schedule announced in January 2019.
Photo: Impression of the Hanhikivi plant (Source: Fennovoima)
