26 Sep (NucNet): Finland’s government has rejected an application from utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) to extend the construction licence application period for the Olkiluoto-3 nuclear reactor, a statement said.
In May 2014 TVO requested the five-year extension for the application period because Olkiluoto-3 had not entered service on schedule. TVO proposed that the new deadline for submitting application should be the end of March 2019.
TVO now has until next summer to submit a construction licence application for Olkiluoto-4 to the government.
TVO said delays with Olkiluoto-3 make it difficult to begin Olkiluoto-4 as planned. Unit 3, a 1,600-megawatt EPR, is being built by Areva and Siemens and is about nine years behind schedule.
TVO president and chief executive officer Jarmo Tanhua said in a statement that TVO has worked on the project since 2006 and its Finnish shareholders have invested nearly 100 million euros in it. “I am baffled that it seems to be so difficult to make a major industrial investment in Finland,” he said.
