Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Not good news at all


Just found this out today -- the next Finnish reactor supposed to come on line next year isn't going to make that, and probably won't make the year after that, too.  Part of restoring and increasing the public confidence in clean and safe nuclear energy is bringing reactors online on time, and preferably on or under budget.   These multi-year extensions and multi-billion cost overruns are NOT good for business.

Olkiluoto 3 delayed beyond 2014

"TVO noted, "Planning, documentation and licensing of the reactor plant automation are not yet completed," and complained that these "have not progressed according to the supplier's schedules." TVO senior vice president for corporate relations Anna Lehtiranta said, "Even though we are not pleased with the situation and the fact that there have been repeated challenges with the time scheduling, works are progressing and solutions for remaining instrumentation and control (I&C) items are fixed step-by-step."

The utility said that Areva-Siemens are constructing the 1600 MWe plant under a fixed-price turnkey contract and therefore the consortium is responsible for the time schedule of the project. It expects the supplier "to update the overall schedule and provide a new confirmation and analysis of the completion date, as well as clarification of the measures needed to keep up with the schedule."

This is where it gets interesting:

Areva-Siemens filed a request for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce in December 2008 concerning the delay of Olkiluoto and the related costs. Its latest monetary claim, including indirect items and interest, is some €1.9 billion ($2.3 billion). TVO has made a counterclaim which currently amounts to €1.4 billion ($1.7 billion).
And that is not any way to make progress.




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