Finland: Nuclear Builders Place Their Bids

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Fennovoima has invited Areva and Toshiba to bid for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Finland. Meanwhile, Jordan has received three offers from would-be builders of its first nuclear power plant.

The invitations sent by Fennovoima to Areva and Toshiba for the construction of a new nuclear power plant cover bids for the delivery and construction of reactor and turbine islands. Infrastructure works early in the construction phase and other preparatory works are excluded from the bids. A final decision on the plant supplier and the model of delivery will be reached in 2012-2013.

Fennovoima signed technical development agreements with both vendors in December 2010 to ensure that Areva’s EPR and Toshiba’s ABWR reactor designs would meet Finnish safety requirements and the company’s own technical requirements. The final site has not yet been selected from the two alternative greenfield sites of Pyhäjoki or Simo, both in northern Finland. The final site selection will be made after the country’s supreme administrative court has ruled on appeals over the regional land use plans of the sites. Preparatory site work could begin at the end of 2012.

Fennovoima was granted a decision-in-principle for the plant in May 2010, ratified by parliament in July 2010. Operation is pencilled in to begin around 2020. Also in May 2010, TVO was granted a decision-in-principle to build a fourth plant at the Olkiluoto site. Four reactors already provide some 30% of Finland’s electricity and the country’s fifth reactor, the first-of-a-kind Olkiuoto 3 EPR, is expected to enter commercial operation in 2013. The government rejected an application from Fortum for a decision-in-principle to build a third unit at Loviisa.

Jordan receives offers

Jordan has received technical offers for its first nuclear power plant from three companies: an Areva-Mistubishi Heavy Industries consortium, Russia’s AtomStroyExport and Canada’s SNC-Lavalin International. The three were shortlisted to build the plant in May 2010. The designs under consideration are the Atmea-1 pressurized water reactor (PWR), the AES-92 model VVER-1000, and the Enhanced Candu-6 pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR).

Quoting a statement from Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) deputy chairman Kamal Al Araj, official state news agency Petra reported that the technical offers would be opened on 4 July by a specially formed tenders committee, and that financial offers would be received by mid-August. A decision on technology is expected in December.

The invitation to tender for the turnkey plant was announced in January, but according to AtomStroyExport, Jordan subsequently asked bidders to modify their proposals to include safety analyses in relationship to the accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

World Nuclear News

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