Planned work on EPR includes refuelling and leak tests.
The Olkiluoto-3 nuclear power plant in Finland – the first of its type in Europe – will be disconnected from electricity production on 2 March for its first annual outage, owner and operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj said.
Regular electricity production began at the 1,600 MW EPR unit one year ago with full commercial operation on 1 May. TVO said the planned outage is expected to last 37 days.
The lengthy duration is due to the technical characteristics of the plant type and the large number of periodic tests and maintenance activities to be carried out during the outage, TVO said.
“As OL3 is the largest nuclear power plant unit in Europe, there is a considerable number of components and equipment that need to be serviced.” The plan for the Olkiluoto-3 outage includes some 1,900 different activities with almost 6,500 work phases.
In comparison, the work list for the annual outage at Olkiluoto-2, an 890 MW boiling water reactor unit that began commercial operation in 1982, shows about 550 activities with 1,200 work phases.
The Olkiluoto-3 outage will include refuelling, preventive maintenance on the protection system, software upgrades in the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems, leak-tightness tests on the containment isolation valves and the maintenance of the pressuriser safety relief valves.
The Generation III EPR was designed in France, where an EPR is nearing operation at Flamanville-3, a project that has seen delays and cost overruns.
Two other EPR units in China have already begun commercial operation. Taishan-1 in China was the first EPR unit to begin commercial operation, in December 2018. A second EPR at Taishan began commercial operation in September 2019.
In the UK there are two EPRs under construction at Hinkley Point C, where there have also been delays and significant cost overruns.