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Fuel Loading Begins At Long-Delayed OL3
Finnish utility TVO (Teollisuuden Voima Oyuj) said this week that fuel loading for the Olkiluoto Unit 3 nuclear plant had commenced a day after the company received its operating license from regulators.
The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) of Finland granted the operating license on March 26, paving the way for 241 fuel assemblies, which will be loaded from storage to the reactor core by 40 technicians. The fuel loading is expected to take about a week after which hot operations testing – testing the plant under operating conditions concerning pressure and heat – will commence. These are tests that were initially completed in 2018, but OL3 has faced considerable delays during construction. The original operations date was scheduled for April 2009. Commercial operations are now not expected until February 2022.
Olkiluoto Unit 2 Going Back Online After Shut Down Incident
Finland’s Olkiluoto Unit 2 reactor can re-connect to the electricity grid after an automatic shutdown incident on December 10 that was graded zero in the grading system of nuclear power plant incidents.
The country’s nuclear power oversight agency STUK (the Radiation and Nuclear Authority) has granted permission for a restart of commercial operations, which is expected to take place by the end of the week.
The plant shut down “due to automatic scram,” said plant operator Teollisuuden Voioma (TVO). Even with permission granted, prior to start up “thorough inspections, maintenance and repair measures are carried out,” according to a company statement.