nuclear-news

Costs of Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear reactor go up yet again

costs have steadily climbed, calling into question the profitability of the undertaking.

Areva Again Raises Estimate of Cost of  Reactor NASDAQ, By Dow Jones Business News,  December,13 2012, By Inti Landauro PARIS–-French nuclear engineering firm Areva (AREVA.FR) raised its estimate Thursday of the cost of building the new generation reactor under construction since 2005 in Finland.

Chief Executive Luc Oursel said the reactor in Olkiluoto will ultimately cost about 8 billion euros, same as a similar reactor it is building in Flamanville, in northern France. That’s well over the last cost estimate of around EUR6.4 billion.

“Our estimation is that the whole project (in Finland) will have a
cost in constant euros close to Flamanville,” Mr. Oursel said during a
press conference. He said Areva’s partners on the project, Siemens AG
and Finnish utility TvO, have a say in the final costs.

Initially the construction of the reactor, designed to resist
earthquakes and other shocks like the crash of a commercial airliner,
was estimated at EUR3 billion, with an entry into service seen in May
2006.

Now the unit is expected to start producing power in 2015, while costs have steadily climbed, calling into question the profitability of the undertaking.

French utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) recently raised the
cost for the Flamanville reactor to EUR8 billion from an already
upwardly revised estimate of EUR6 billion, reflecting delays and new
regulations after the disaster in Japan last year…..
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/areva-again-raises-estimate-of-cost-of-olkiluoto-reactor-20121213-00131#.UMt1duR9JLt

December 14, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Finland