Fennovoima, the Finnish company building the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear plant with Russian assistance at Pyhäjoki in northwest Finland on 21 March published its Corporate Responsibility Report and Board of Director's report for 2017. According to the Board of Director's report, Fennovoima strongly developed its organisation and its cooperation with the plant supplier’s engineering organisation during 2017, hiring 71 specialists in seven waves of recruitment. At the end of 2017, the company had 303 employees or 339 including full-time consultants.

Fennovoima continued to review design documentation related to the construction licence and submit such documentation to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK). “However, the plant supplier’s consideration of Finnish laws and requirements took longer than expected and for this reason, Fennovoima updated in September its estimate on the target schedule for the construction licence from 2018 until 2019.” The supplier Russia’s JSC Rusatom Energy International is currently updating the project’s schedule. The design of the reactor pressure vessel and the turbine island was started during 2017.

STUK carried out 12 audits of Fennovoima’s and the plant supplier’s supply chains in 2017 related to the processing of the construction licence. In August, Fennovoima and STUK approved the supplier of the reactor pressure vessel and audited its manufacturing plant in Ukraine.

Fennovoima said: “The project’s supply chain became stronger during the year. A significant selection was made in June, when the main contractor, Titan-2, selected the British Rolls-Royce and the French Schneider Electric as the preferred suppliers of automation systems... Rolls-Royce, the main supplier, would provide the protective automation systems, with Schneider Electric supplying the automated operating system.” France’s Framatome has recently acquired Schneider’s nuclear automation business.

Fennovoima noted that it continued to carry out studies related to the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel in cooperation with Posiva Solutions Oy, in line with the agreement signed between the two companies in 2016. Studies were started concerning the target properties of the final disposal location, in addition to research related to the final disposal of low-level and intermediate-level waste.

The report said preparatory work continued at the plant site in Pyhäjoki. “Significant progress was made in terms of Fennovoima’s supporting buildings, as the training building was taken into use in January 2017 and the main gate building was completed in August." 

Construction of an accommodation village for 1000 people and the site offices for the plant supplier started in 2017. Terramare continued to carry out hydraulic construction and dredging work from May to November. A new work phase began in August when Tallqvist Infra Oy began crushing excavated stone. Also, the advance testing of concrete mixes in concrete mixing plants started in September, and a meteorological mast supplied by Aerial Oy was erected on the site in December. Destia Oy carried out the grouting of the bedrock surrounding the power plant pit excavation between May and December. “No lost time accidents occurred on the Hanhikivi 1 construction site during 2017,” Fennovoima said. 

The company continued to cooperate closely with the municipality of Pyhäjoki and other local stakeholders. Support for the project increased significantly in 2017.  According to opinion surveys completed in December, 75% of Pyhäjoki residents support the Hanhikivi 1  project (67.4% in 2016). In total, 71.9% of the residents of Pyhäjoki and neighbouring municipalities favour the project. 

Fennovoima has hedged its risks against cost overruns by entering into fixed-price purchasing contracts, the report noted.  “JSC Rusatom Energy International, which is the plant supplier through its subsidiaries and a significant minority shareholder of Fennovoima, has committed to procuring the necessary debt financing for the project during the construction phase, in line with the shareholders’ agreement.”  However, the report said international sanction policies and changes in the financial markets “may affect the ability of the Russian government, Russian banks and other financial institutions or export credit agencies to provide funding and the related guarantees for the project and achieve the target interest rate levels for debt financing”. The most significant risks that could cause a delay in the commissioning are related to the progress of the construction licence application process and the construction phase. 

The report listed “significant events after the end of the financial period”. In January 2018 Fennovoima delivered a required supplement to its construction licence application relating to nuclear waste management to Finland's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The outlook for 2018 said the plant supplier would continue to carry out planning and preparatory work, excavation work, and the construction of the auxiliary buildings that will serve the power plant operations. “In addition, the company will continue to strengthen its organisation significantly." The company is not expected to generate revenues, meaning that its operations are expected to be loss-making.”

The Corporate Responsibility Report said the focus in 2018 would be  “on further improving the effectiveness of the process-based Fennovoima Management System (FMS) by, e.g. training and implementing effective process follow-up methods”. A graded approach method will be implemented to identify activities that are significant for safety. The FMS is implemented through a web interface, training and internal communication.

The report said Fennovoima was committed to investing resources in preparing for commissioning. “Two such activities are currently underway: commissioning lessons learned and development of Fennovoima’s employee skills at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant II (LAES II), which is Hanhikivi 1’s reference power plant…. Essentially, both LAES II and Hanhikivi 1 share key design aspects, safety features and suppliers. Fennovoima is utilising this shared design and supply chain to understand better any differences between commissioning in Russia and Finland. Where possible, Fennovoima will also identify any specific lessons learned (technical, organisational, etc.) from LAES II to better enhance the Hanhikivi 1 commissioning activities.”

Hanhikivi 1, a generation 3+ 1200MWe VVER pressurised water reactor of the Russian AES-2006 type is expected to begin operation in 2024.  When completed, Hanhikivi 1 will produce about 9TWh of electricity a year.  
 

Photo: The Hanhikivi nuclear plant (Credit: Fennovoima)