French engineering and nuclear build company AREVA announced Tuesday that cold functional tests (CFT) had begun at the long-delayed Olkiluoto Unit 3 European Pressurized Reactor under construction in Finland.
The CFT process runs through the primary system hydrotests at gradually increased pressure levels. In order to obtain the pressures required, technicians will need to start and operate most of the systems associated with the Main Primary Systems, which involve reactor coolant pumps.
AREVA is looking for indications of primary system “tightness” with the main nuclear auxiliary systems functional tests as well as the application of some of the nuclear island functions, the company said.
“This step is key in the start-up of the Olkiluoto 3 EPR,” said Jean-Pierre Mouroux, the project director for the AREVA-Siements Consortium, which has been in charge of construction begun in October 2005. The plant, the first EPR under construction, was originally expected to be completed in 2009 as a litmus test for AREVA's new technology.
The price tag has also changed, climbing with the delays from about $4 billion to $9.53 billion, according to media reports.
Cold Functional Tests, however, signal the near completion of the construction phase of the project. The tests pave the way for Hot Functional Testing, which are scheduled for the last quarter of 2017.
Along with the start of CFT(s), the final stages of the main electromechanical installations are underway, as well as plant finishing works, the company said.