NUCLEAR FLAGSHIP PROJECT IN FINLAND FACES MAJOR PROBLEMS

By Satu Hassi and - - Reprint | | Print |

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HELSINKI, Mar 3 2007 (IPS) - The flagship project of the European nuclear industry, the construction of a new nuclear power station on a small island called Olkiluoto off the west coast of Finland, is in trouble, writes Satu Hassi, Finnish Minister of Environment from 1999-2002 and a member of the Europarliament. In this article, Hassi writes that the project is at least one and a half years behind schedule because of quality problems and delayed blueprints. The delay has already caused significant losses to one of the contractors as well as for the Finnish government, because the justification for the project was the Kyoto climate treaty. Though Finland sees itself as a leader in climate protection, since the construction permit for the Olkiluoto 3 reactor was issued, it has in many ways become a laggard in climate protection. Several measures adopted in many other European countries to promote renewable energy have been rejected in Finland. In the EU Council of Ministers, Finland has been one of the countries most reluctant to accept long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the Union.

TVO bought the power plant as a turn key project for a fixed price. The delay has already caused significant losses to the French company Areva. The delay is also a problem for the Finnish government, because the justification for the project was the Kyoto climate treaty. The Finnish parliament voted in May 2002 to permit construction of a new nuclear reactor, the first in Western Europe for more than a decade. At that time the majority of Finnish MPs believed that a new nuclear reactor would be the most reliable and cost-efficient way to meet the country’s Kyoto targets. The Greens left the government in protest. The reactor is now expected to start operating in 2011, which means that even without further delays it will not deliver significant carbon emission reductions for the Kyoto commitment period 2008-2012. Olkiluoto 3, the third nuclear reactor on the site, is supposed to produce 1600 megawatts of electricity. In spite of the fact that the plant under construction is a prototype and the biggest reactor in the world, the reactor was slated to begin operations soon, in 2009, after a very short construction timetable, probably in an effort to meet the Kyoto timetable. The first problem that was announced publicly, in fall 2005, was that the concrete for the foundations of the plant was too porous. STUK, the Finnish nuclear and radiation safety authority, took a closer look at the management of the construction and found numerous lapses. One of the key findings was that Areva-Siemens had failed to communicate to the sub-contractors the specifications required for a nuclear power plant. In July 2006 STUK published a highly critical report of the work in Olkiluoto. Areva-Siemens has accused the Finnish authorities of being excessively strict and rigid. The STUK report gives the impression that the main contractor expected the safety and quality culture of a developing country. I myself visited the site in September 2006. TVO representatives said that the quality problems are not the only reason for the delays: an even bigger factor is the fact that Areva-Siemens has failed to deliver the detailed blueprints in time. In January the press was told that certain parts of the building that had already been constructed had to be torn down because the India-based engineering company responsible for the design did not take into account the temperature differences between Finnish summer and the freezing winter, which can reach -20 degrees Celsius or colder. Some people say that it seems Areva didn’t know what they were selling, which country it was for, and what the client wanted. In January a delay of six months was announced, on top of the 12 month delay announced before. In the same week Areva said that they are not going to pay for further delays. TVO disagrees, as one would expect. The losses of Areva mentioned in the press vary between 400 and 1000 million euros. The Finnish construction business waited for this project with high expectations. Now they are expressing more and more vocal dissatisfaction. Headlines in the press state that Olkiluoto has turned to a nightmare for the sub-contractors. On February 1, the board president of Forssan Betoni, the company supplying concrete to the project, told Finnish TV news that so far they have delivered less than half of the scheduled amount. Finland sees itself as a leader in climate protection. To a certain extent it was, in the early 1990s. Decades ago the country built a district heating network in which all major cities were connected to combined heat and power production systems, which are very energy efficient. The paper and metallurgical industries have also invested a lot in energy efficiency. But sadly, after the construction permit for Olkiluoto 3 was issued, Finland has in many ways become a laggard in climate protection. Several measures adopted in many other European countries to promote renewable energy have been rejected in Finland. One of these is a feed-in tariff for electricity produced from renewable sources. This has been a very effective way to encourage investment in wind turbines and other forms of renewable energy. And in March this year the Finnish government announced that they are considering a feed-in tariff system. In the EU Council of Ministers, Finland has been one of the countries most reluctant to accept long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the Union. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)