French company to construct nuclear reactor buildings in Olkiluoto
Construction to take three years
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The French construction company Bouygues Travaux Publics SA has won the contract to build the buildings and structures required by for Finland’s fifth commercial nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto on Finland’s west coast. The supplier of the power plant itself, Framatome, announced the result on Wednesday.
The three-year construction project should commence next summer. The deal is for the single largest construction project relating to the third nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, which has been ordered by power company Teollisuuden Voima (TVO).
Framatome sources reported on Wednesday that Bouygues won the contract in a tight competition, with the other participants coming from Finland, France, and Germany. Bouygues will carry out the construction work in cooperation with Finnish companies.
The contract covers the reactor building, four security system buildings, as well as a building for the nuclear fuel.
According to Framatome, construction companies will be asked for bids concerning numerous auxiliary structures within the coming year.
Framatome did not publish the value of the contract. The structures will be among the largest construction projects ever carried out in Finland. The solid concrete outer shells are in compliance with the security design of European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) power plants. The reactor building is designed to withstand even being hit by a large airplane.
The capacity of the new power plant will be 1,600 megawatts, and it should be operational by the end of the decade, beginning commercial electricity production in 2009.
Helsingin Sanomat
