Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant

The Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (Finnish: Loviisan ydinvoimalaitos, Swedish: Lovisa kärnkraftverk) is located close to the Finnish town of Loviisa. It houses two Soviet-designed VVER-440 pressurised water reactors, with capacities of 507 MW each. It is one of Finland's two operating nuclear power plants, the other being the three-unit Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant.

Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant
Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant from air
Official nameLoviisan ydinvoimalaitos
CountryFinland
LocationLoviisa, County of Uusimaa
Coordinates60°22′20″N 26°20′50″E
StatusOperational
Construction beganLO1: 1 May 1971 (1971-05-01)
LO2: 1 August 1972 (1972-08-01)
Commission dateLO1: 9 May 1977 (1977-05-09)
LO2: 5 January 1981 (1981-01-05)
Owner(s)Fortum Power and Heat Oy
Operator(s)
Employees530 (2021)
Nuclear power station
Reactors2
Reactor typeVVER
Reactor supplierAtomenergoexport
Cooling sourceGulf of Finland
Thermal capacity2 × 1,500 MWth
Combined: 3,000 MWth
Power generation
Units operational2 × 507 MWe (net)
Make and modelOKB Gidropress VVER-440/V-213
Nameplate capacity1,014 MW
Capacity factor92.9% (2021)
Annual net output8,200 GW·h (2021)
External links
WebsiteLoviisa nuclear power plant
CommonsRelated media on Commons

History

The reactors at Loviisa NPP went into commercial operation in 1977 and 1981 respectively. To comply with Finnish nuclear regulation, Westinghouse and Siemens supplied equipment and engineering expertise. This unorthodox mix of Western and Soviet enterprise led to the project developers being given the nickname "Eastinghouse".[1][2] The plant is operated by Fortum Oyj.

A diagram about the containment building of the ice condenser at the Loviisa's power plant

In 1996, the pressure vessel of Unit 1 was successfully heat annealed in order to clear embrittlement caused by neutron bombardment and impurities of the welding seam between the two halves of the vessel.[3]

The operating licence for both units has been renewed for a 50-year lifetime, Loviisa-1 to 2027 and Loviisa-2 to 2030.[4] As of 2018, Fortum is reportedly considering applying for a further 20-year lifetime extension until 2050, which is a change from plans just a year earlier that would have seen the plant decommissioned on the earlier schedule.[5]

Fortum Power and Heat Oy applied to build a third reactor unit, to produce up to 1,000 MWth of district heating supply and from 800-1,600 MW of electrical generation, which the Finnish government declined on 21 April 2010.[6]

Spent fuel from the reactors were planned to be stored permanently at the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository operated by Posiva.[7]

In 2014 Rolls-Royce took over the modernisation of safety-related systems for both units from an AREVA-Siemens consortium and the project was completed in 2018.[8][9] Since then, both Unit 1 and Unit 2 are operating at a nominal 507 MW capacity after updates.[10]

In 2022, Fortum submitted a plan for the reactors' life extension to 2050. Russia's TVEL will continue to supply fuel until the contracts come up for renewal in 2027 and 2030, when Westinghouse Sweden may have developed an alternative.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Ärger mit Eastinghouse" [Trouble with Eastinghouse]. Der Spiegel (in German). 21 April 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  2. Michelsen, Karl Erik (2007). "Project Eastinghouse – teknologinen haaste Loviisassa" [Project Eastinghouse – technological challenge in Loviisa]. ATS Ydintekniikka (in Finnish). Suomen Atomiteknillinen Seura (3): 14–16. ISSN 0356-0473.
  3. "Loviisan voimalaitos" [Loviisa power plant] (in Finnish). STUK. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  4. Martti Antila, Tuukka Lahtinen. "Recent Core Design and Operating Experience in Loviisa NPP" (PDF). Fortum Nuclear Services LTD, Espoo, Finland. IAEA. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  5. Lefteris Karagiannopoulos (4 January 2018). "Finland's Fortum considers extending Loviisa nuclear power plant life". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  6. "Finnish government says Yes to TVO and Fennovoima". Nuclear Engineering International. Global Trade Media. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  7. "Waste management". Fortum. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  8. "Fortum drops AREVA-Siemens for Rolls-Royce at Loviisa". Nuclear Engineering International. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  9. "Modernisation of Loviisa nuclear power plant automation successfully completed". Fortum. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  10. "Voimalaitosrekisteri | Energiavirasto". Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  11. "Fortum will use Russian nuclear fuel until 2030". Nuclear Engineering International. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
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