Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant annual outage 2022 completed
FORTUM CORPORATION BUSINESS PRESS RELEASE 17.10.2022
Both units at Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant are back in production after completion of their annual outages. Unit 2 underwent an extensive annual outage, which is done every 4 years; the outage lasted just over 36 days and was completed on 12.9.2022. The short annual outage of Unit 1 lasted 29 days and was completed on 16.10.2022.
The annual outage of Unit 2 was delayed by approximately five days from the original plan. The delay was caused by the replacement of a main reactor coolant pump, which had failed during the start-up phase, with a serviced pump. The annual outage of Unit 1 was delayed by about a week due to a leak in the main reactor coolant pump’s sealing water line, detected during a leak test.
“It was a normal annual outage-related test procedure. The purpose of the test is to verify leak-tightness of the systems that are part of the primary circuit after servicing and before plant start-up,” says Sasu Valkamo, Vice President of Loviisa nuclear power plant.
In addition to the normal periodic maintenance work and refuelling, tasks related to maintenance and continuous improvement were carried out on both units during the annual outage.
“For example, the automation modernisation of Loviisa Unit 1’s emergency generators, which was started in the previous annual outage, was continued. In the modernisation project, the original automation systems are being replaced with digital systems,” Valkamo notes.
In conjunction with the annual outages, about one quarter of the fuel in both units was replaced.
In addition to 530 power plant employees, about 750 external workers also participated in the annual outage.
Fortum Corporation
Communications
Media contacts:
Mia Willberg, Communications Manager, mia.willberg@fortum.com, +358 40 777 5989
Loviisa nuclear power plant
In 2021, the load factor at Fortum’s fully-owned Loviisa nuclear power plant was 92.9%. The continuous development and modernisation of the power plant enable load factors that are among the best for pressurised water reactors on an international scale. During the past five years Fortum’s investments in the Loviisa power plant have totalled about EUR 325 million. In 2021, the power plant produced a total of 8.2 terawatt hours (net) of electricity, which is more than 10% of Finland’s electricity production. Fortum employs about 700 nuclear sector professionals, 530 of them work at the Loviisa power plant. Additionally, nearly 100 permanent employees of other companies work in the power plant area every day. More information: www.fortum.com/loviisa
Fortum
Fortum is an energy company driving the change for a cleaner world. Our role is to ensure the security of supply and a fast and reliable transition to a carbon-neutral economy by providing customers and societies with clean energy and sustainable solutions. Fortum’s core operations are located in the Nordics and consist of CO2-free power generation, electricity sales, district heating as well as recycling and waste solutions. Fortum's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.fortum.com
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