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-440/213 PWR reactors, with capacities of 507 MW each. It is one of Finland's two nuclear power plants, the other being the two-unit Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant.

Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant
Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant from air
Country	Finland
Location	Loviisa
Coordinates	60°22′20″N 26°20′50″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	May 1, 1971
Commission date	May 9, 1977
Owner(s)	Fortum Power and Heat OY
Operator(s)	Fortum
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	VVER-440/213
Reactor supplier	Atomenergoexport
Power generation
Units operational	2 × 507 MW PWR
Nameplate capacity	1,014 MW
Capacity factor	92.9%
Annual net output	8,160 GW·h
External links
Website	www.fortum.com
Commons	Related media on Commons

The reactors at Loviisa NPP went into commercial operation in 1977 and 1980 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.

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 1000 MWt 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]

See also

• Energy in Finland
• Nuclear power in Finland

References

1. "Ärger mit Eastinghouse" [Trouble with Eastinghouse] (in German). 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
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. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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 (2018-01-04). "Finland's Fortum considers extending Loviisa nuclear power plant life". Reuters. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
6. "Finnish government says Yes to TVO and Fennovoima". Nuclear Engineering International. Global Trade Media. 2010-04-21. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
7. "Waste management". Fortum. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
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. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
10. "Voimalaitosrekisteri | Energiavirasto". Retrieved 2018-11-04.