Areva says Olkiluoto-3 construction to take six years

Areva acknowledged Olkiluoto-3 will take six years to complete, instead of the original target of four years or the more recent estimate of 5.5 years. As recently as late April, Areva officials said the commercial service date was still the turn of 2010-2011, or about 67 months after the May 2005 construction start. In an August 10 statement, Areva said commercial operation is likely to start in 2011. "De facto, its construction period will be six years, which is equal to the worldwide average construction time," it said.Areva said the project "remains challenging" but that "improvement measures put in place" should "prevent or circumvent delays." The 1,600-MW EPR, being delivered to Finnish utility TVO under a turnkey contract with Areva and Siemens, has been plagued by delays, including problems with licensing and with subcontractors meeting concrete specifications. In an August 10 statement, TVO Project Manager Martin Landtman said that, according to Areva and Siemens, the latest delay is because construction is going more slowly than expected, and "the need to satisfy the safety requirements for the new plant is more demanding than the supplier had anticipated."