The owner of Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear plant has announced the bidding and engineering phase of a project to construct a fourth reactor at the site.
Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced in a release that it expects bids by early 2013 from Areva, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba.
Areva is currently building the first-ever reactor to use its third-generation EPR design at Olkiluoto. GE-Hitachi (GEH) has also made inroads at the plant, reaching agreements with potential local construction partners and signing a licensing feasibility contract with TVO in February.
The company will make the case for its ESBWR design in a bid prepared jointly with Fluor, according to a GEH release Tuesday. Last month it also signed a memorandum of understanding with Space Systems Finland Ltd., a provider of industrial software.
“We are honored and excited to receive TVO’s formal invitation to submit a bid to build their new reactor,” GEH Vice President for new plant projects Danny Roderick said in a release. “This is a testament to our ESBWR technology, which is a safe, simple and predictable solution for (Olkiluoto) 4. We are already working with our project partners and mobilizing the supply chain to prepare an extremely competitive, attractive and comprehensive proposal to support TVO’s technology, schedule and budget requirements.”