Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

Post by His Divine Shadow »

Just in time as europe is in the throes of a german-manufactured energy crisis I said would come back in 2011/12.

Too bad about the delay, but we need like minimum 5 more of these yet, to increase our domestic base load self-reliance and to have replacements our old reactors sa they go off line and also to supply the continent who seems to see the nordic countries as a battery that will bail the germans out of their hole. This has resulted in higher electricity prices in Sweden but also in Finland, I've heard the price of electricity has become to high in places in Sweden that people are turning off their heat pumps and refilling their oil fuel tanks and going back to burning oil while others are firing up their wood boilers again.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Arti ... riticality
Europe's first EPR reaches criticality
21 December 2021

Finland's fifth nuclear reactor, Olkiluoto 3 (OL3), has reached first criticality. The EPR (European Pressurised Water Reactor) is the first new nuclear unit to be commissioned in Finland in over 40 years, and will eventually produce some 14% of the country's electricity.

"First criticality of the OL3 EPR plant unit was reached on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 3.22 a.m.", utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced. Electricity production will begin when the unit is connected to the national grid, which is expected to happen at the end of January 2022.

"This moment will forever be remembered as a demonstration of persistent work for the commissioning of our new plant unit. It reflects strong nuclear professionalism and a will to make Finland's greatest act for the climate a reality," TVO Senior Vice President for Electricity Production Marjo Mustonen said.

Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome, thanked the project teams from Framatome and Areva for their perseverance. "This milestone paves the way for safe, reliable, low-carbon electricity generation to the residents of Finland," he said, adding that the company will continue to support the unit with services ranging from fuel fabrication to long-term operational and outage support.

"I would like to congratulate TVO and all its partners on the completion of Olkiluoto 3," World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y Léon said. "This reactor will serve the people of Finland for many decades, providing abundant, round-the-clock clean, reliable and affordable electricity - the importance of which we are painfully reminded of right now."

Finland's parliament in 2002 approved building the country's fifth nuclear power reactor. The vote was seen as highly significant, in that it was the first such decision to build a new nuclear unit in Western Europe for more than a decade. TVO's Olkiluoto site - already home to two operating boiling water reactors - was subsequently selected to host the new reactor.

Framatome ANP's 1600 MWe EPR was selected as the preferred reactor based on operating cost, with Siemens selected to provide the turbines and generators. TVO signed a fixed-price EUR3.2 billion turnkey contract with Areva NP and Siemens for the unit in December 2003, and construction began in 2005. Commercial operation was originally scheduled for 2009, but the project has encountered various delays and setbacks.

The Finnish Government granted an operating licence for OL3 in March 2019. Finland's nuclear regulator, STUK, granted a fuel loading permit in March of this year. Fuel loading was completed on 1 April, at which point an October start-up was envisaged. However, this was postponed to allow for extra turbine overhaul and inspection works by the plant supplier.

Now the unit has started up, its power level will be gradually increased and commissioning tests will be carried out at every power level. Electricity production will start when a 30% power level is reached, TVO said. This is expected at the end of January, with regular electricity production expected to start in June. OL3 is then expected to produce around 14% of Finland's electricity.

The first EPR units came online at Taishan in China, where unit 1 became the first EPR to enter commercial operation in 2018 followed by Taishan 2 in September 2019. In Europe, EPRs are currently under construction in France and the UK: Flamanville 3, currently expected to start up in 2023 with commercial operation in 2024; and two units at Hinkley Point C, currently slated for commercial operation in 2026 (unit 1) and 2027 (unit 2).
Also an interesting link:
Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Options - UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/LCA-2.pdf

Looks like Nuclear is still the most climate friendly solution overall.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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But… but it’s nuclear! Radioactive waste! Another Chernobyl waiting to happen! Nasty evil stuff that must be stopped! Greedy corporate kickbacks! And what about the children??? What were they thinking???????? :P

Or at least that’s what our environmentalists think, though to be fair they are pretty much opposed to electricial production in general (fossil fuels make C02, hydro dams destroy the environment and emit methane, wind turbines kill bats/birds, solar power takes up large amounts of space that kills habitats etc).

Good for Finland! The EU is a giant mess and the more independent they can be (and less dependent on Russian oil imports) the better.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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The mere fact that you can have one (relatively) small power plant providing 1/7th of a nation's electricity should be a pretty good endorsement. Good work Finland.

Of course, most people hear "reactor" and think "uh uh, NIMBY." That those same people are the first to bitch about high electricity prices is an irony they will gleefully ignore.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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Eternal_Freedom wrote: 2021-12-22 12:56pm The mere fact that you can have one (relatively) small power plant providing 1/7th of a nation's electricity should be a pretty good endorsement. Good work Finland.

Of course, most people hear "reactor" and think "uh uh, NIMBY." That those same people are the first to bitch about high electricity prices is an irony they will gleefully ignore.
We have the same problem here for fracking, opposition has meant it hasn't managed to get off the ground(!) yet.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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EnterpriseSovereign wrote: 2021-12-23 10:27am
Eternal_Freedom wrote: 2021-12-22 12:56pm The mere fact that you can have one (relatively) small power plant providing 1/7th of a nation's electricity should be a pretty good endorsement. Good work Finland.

Of course, most people hear "reactor" and think "uh uh, NIMBY." That those same people are the first to bitch about high electricity prices is an irony they will gleefully ignore.
We have the same problem here for fracking, opposition has meant it hasn't managed to get off the ground(!) yet.
Yeah, 'cause why wouldn't we trust fossil fuel companies who funded laws changing the very democratic process for citizen initiatives in the State of Colorado based on a propaganda campaign of lies and bullshit? :roll:

Nah, fuck the companies that do fracking, I don't even care if its environmentally friendly (pro-tip: there is good evidence to suggest its bad for ground water as well as causing actual earthquakes, so having it literally in your back yard could actually bring your whole house down), those companies can go bankrupt for all I care. It was always about the profits, never the demand for natural gas. If we needed it, they wouldn't have had to sabotage a democracy to achieve it.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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Yeah natural gas is a fossil fuel. Beyond me why we want to use it
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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The only reason to maintain it when we need to massively scale down our energy use is as as emergency strategic reserves. That's part of why we fought it so hard where I am. Anyone who tries to lump fracking in with nuclear as another technology those damn greenies irrationally hates either hasn't thought it through properly or thinks we can keep up our current energy consumption indefinitely despite all the evidence to the contrary.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

Post by GuppyShark »

Awesome, congrats Finland. Something's going to have to provide base power when the fossil fuels go the way of the dinosaur.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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I guess Hell has frozen over as this got completed.

To give context this was "eternity projects" with a lot of Drama the article doesn't quite tell us in to their full extent. One of those delays was due the builders not looking up the Finnish standards for Nuclear plants and large parts had to be essentially rebuilt because of it.

EDIT:If you about to ask why no-one was sued because of that, well they were.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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I would've thought finnish regs would be the same as EU regs. It certainly explains why there are issues if there is not an EU wide standard.

Also in 2022 germany shuts down the last of their reactors, and until 2025 belgium will have phased out nuclear power. Nobody has a clue what to replace it with aside from hoping for a good blow and cheap fossil fuels (gas). I am seriously considering building another fireplace in my house (a pönttöuuni, type of masonry heater). I have relied heavily on wood this year for supplemental heat, via my masonry heater and also using my sauna stove.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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His Divine Shadow wrote: 2021-12-26 12:55pmAlso in 2022 germany shuts down the last of their reactors, and until 2025 belgium will have phased out nuclear power. Nobody has a clue what to replace it with aside from hoping for a good blow and cheap fossil fuels (gas). I am seriously considering building another fireplace in my house (a pönttöuuni, type of masonry heater). I have relied heavily on wood this year for supplemental heat, via my masonry heater and also using my sauna stove.
We're going to have the same problem soon where I live. Pickering nuclear is scheduled to end operations in 2024 so that's 3.1GW gone with no replacements available. Our leaders are convinced we can run the system on sunshine & rainbows, good luck with that.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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aerius wrote: 2021-12-26 01:43pm
His Divine Shadow wrote: 2021-12-26 12:55pmAlso in 2022 germany shuts down the last of their reactors, and until 2025 belgium will have phased out nuclear power. Nobody has a clue what to replace it with aside from hoping for a good blow and cheap fossil fuels (gas). I am seriously considering building another fireplace in my house (a pönttöuuni, type of masonry heater). I have relied heavily on wood this year for supplemental heat, via my masonry heater and also using my sauna stove.
We're going to have the same problem soon where I live. Pickering nuclear is scheduled to end operations in 2024 so that's 3.1GW gone with no replacements available. Our leaders are convinced we can run the system on sunshine & rainbows, good luck with that.
Given that they’re what’s hip these days, how many wind turbines would it take to replace the average sustained amount of energy that Pickering is producing year round?

I imagine it would be quite a lot given mechanical inefficiencies and that the wind isn’t always blowing the perfect amount.

Would it be feasible and cost effective?
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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His Divine Shadow wrote: 2021-12-26 12:55pm I would've thought finnish regs would be the same as EU regs. It certainly explains why there are issues if there is not an EU wide standard.
From what I've gathered from my brother who used to work in the Loviisa plant those standards are actually more strict here then in EU in general.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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Tribble wrote: 2021-12-26 02:31pmGiven that they’re what’s hip these days, how many wind turbines would it take to replace the average sustained amount of energy that Pickering is producing year round?

I imagine it would be quite a lot given mechanical inefficiencies and that the wind isn’t always blowing the perfect amount.

Would it be feasible and cost effective?
Our total energy generation for wind, averaged over a year, is about half of what Pickering puts out. Good luck have fun, and that's leaving aside the energy storage, no wind days, and grid stability issues.

Even if we sucked Niagara Falls dry and sent every last drop through the power turbines, it still wouldn't make up the shortfall from closing down Pickering nuclear. There's 4.5GW of installed capacity at the falls which uses up 3/4 of the total flow in the river when they're running at full power. The amount of energy that a nuke plant cranks out is pretty staggering.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

Post by Jub »

We shouldn't be celebrating one new plant in a single nation. To meet global energy needs we should have dozens of plants coming online yearly all over the world so we can actually draw down coal use instead of just using token renewables to patch shortfalls in the grid.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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Lord Revan wrote: 2021-12-26 03:23pm From what I've gathered from my brother who used to work in the Loviisa plant those standards are actually more strict here then in EU in general.
This is a problem then for the EU as whole. We definitely need a new EU wide standard or we can't make standardized designs.
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Re: Olkiluoto 3 achieves criticallity

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aerius wrote: 2021-12-26 01:43pm
His Divine Shadow wrote: 2021-12-26 12:55pmAlso in 2022 germany shuts down the last of their reactors, and until 2025 belgium will have phased out nuclear power. Nobody has a clue what to replace it with aside from hoping for a good blow and cheap fossil fuels (gas). I am seriously considering building another fireplace in my house (a pönttöuuni, type of masonry heater). I have relied heavily on wood this year for supplemental heat, via my masonry heater and also using my sauna stove.
We're going to have the same problem soon where I live. Pickering nuclear is scheduled to end operations in 2024 so that's 3.1GW gone with no replacements available. Our leaders are convinced we can run the system on sunshine & rainbows, good luck with that.
Considering we had Dalton ''Break billion dollar power generation plant contracts to get elected" McGuinty, 'Sell the power plants to balance the budget'' Kathleen Wynne, followed by Doug 'head in the sand over everything' Ford, I hope the next Priemer will go 'and we're not shutting Pickering down'.

Otherwise, I don't think Darlington Nuclear is going to be able to supply all the power.
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