Annual outage at Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant to begin

PRESS RELEASE 2 August 2012
 
The annual outage at Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant will begin on Sunday, 5 August 2012 on unit 1. The work on the two Loviisa power plant units will be performed sequentially. The work on unit 2 is estimated to be completed by the middle of October.

Loviisa 1 is scheduled for extended maintenance, which is done every eight years. In addition to refuelling, extensive modification, repair, inspection and testing work will be performed during the outage.

The most significant inspection and testing work on Loviisa 1 will include inspections of the reactor pressure vessel and its internal parts, pressure testing of the primary and secondary circuits, and tightness testing of the steel liner of the containment building. The most significant maintenance, repair and modification work includes modernisation of the primary circuit pressure control, extensive replacement of seawater piping, replacement of one of the two main generators with a refurbished one, and opening and servicing of one low-pressure turbine.

Loviisa 2 is scheduled for a short annual outage. In addition to refuelling, the most important annual outage work includes the periodic inspections of the steam generators, replacement of one emergency diesel with a refurbished one, and repairing of the reactor pressure vessel flange face sealing surfaces.

In addition to 500 power plant employees, approximately 1000 maintenance and inspection specialists from a total of 80 companies will participate in the annual outage work.

Annual maintenance guarantees safe and trouble-free functioning of the power plant. Last year, the Loviisa power plant produced 8.06 terawatt-hours of electricity, which is the equivalent of about ten per cent of Finland’s electricity consumption. The capacity factor describing the plant’s availability was 94.3 per cent last year, which is very high on an international scale.

Fortum Corporation
Corporate Communications

For more information, please contact:
Raimo Raitanen, Manager, Technology Unit, tel. +358 (0)10 4553 300
Mauri Lindqvist, Manager, Annual Outage, tel. +358 (0)10 4553 460
Pertti Salonen, Manager, Maintenance Unit, tel. +358 (0)10 4553 100

Fortum

Fortum's purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. We provide sustainable solutions that fulfil the needs for low emissions, resource efficiency and energy security, and deliver excellent value to our shareholders. Our activities cover the generation, distribution and sales of electricity and heat as well as related expert services.

Fortum's operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia, Poland and the Baltics. In the future, the integrating European and fast-growing Asian energy markets provide additional growth opportunities. In 2011, Fortum’s sales totalled EUR 6.2 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.8 billion. We employ approximately 10,800 people. Fortum’s shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

Further information: www.fortum.com