Upgrade at Finnish reactor
17 May 2010
Unit 1 at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Finland is set for major refurbishment during its annual maintenance outage, which the YLE newspaper reported began on 16 May. During the outage, expected to last about 26 days, the unit will undergo the most extensive maintenance ever carried out in the history of the plant, according to plant owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO). The company said that "focal areas include, replacement of low-pressure turbines, inner isolation valves in the main steam pipes, main sea water pumps and some of the low-voltage switchgears." TVO said that the improvement of the efficiency of the turbine plant will enhance the net electrical output of Olkiluoto 1 by some 25 MW. Unit 2 at Olkiluoto - which is currently offline for a brief refuelling outage - will undergo a similar upgrade in 2011. Up to 1500 subcontractor workers will be involved in the annual outages.