Late News

摘要

The olkiluoto-3 reactor pressure vessel was installed on June 18. The operation was completed two weeks after the plant owner, Finland's Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), confirmed that the reactor will not begin producing electricity until 2013 (see page 49, this issue). The original date for the start of operation of the reactor, the first of Areva's EPR design to be constructed, was 2009.rnAccording to Areva, the pressure vessel, which weighs 420 metric tons and measures 5.3 m in diameter and 10.6 m in height, was transported from its storage hangar at the site to just outside the reactor containment and then was lifted into the reactor building and placed into the reactor pit. The next components to be installed will be the reactor coolant piping and the housings of the main reactor coolant pumps. The first of the four steam generators will be installed toward the end of the summer, and the other steam generators and the pressurizer should be installed by the end of the year. The main components of the turbine island have already been installed.