Areva-Siemens updates Olkiluoto 3 arbitration claim
UPDATED: This story was updated on 18 November 2014 to reflect the corrected amount of Areva-Siemens' claim against TVO.
The Areva-Siemens consortium supplying the first-of-a-kind Olkiluoto 3 EPR has updated its arbitration claim against Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) to €3.4 billion ($4.3 billion).
The revision to the consortium's claim covers "additional work, disruption and prolongation of the project" during the construction period up to June 2011 and is the latest step in International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration proceedings which began in 2008. The consortium's claim, revised in late 2013, previously stood at €2.7 billion ($3.7 billion).
Both TVO and Areva-Siemens have issued statements about the most recent revision. According to TVO, the supplier consortium's revised total includes "over" €1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) of penalty interest calculated up to October 2014, payments allegedly delayed by TVO under the plant contract, and €150 million ($190 million) of lost profits.
TVO says it will "scrutinize" the new material submitted to the ICC and says it will respond in due course, but TVO senior vice president in charge of legal affairs Risto Siilos said that the supplier remained responsible for the delay and the ensuing costs.
Last week, TVO increased its estimate of its own costs and losses in relation to the arbitration claim to €2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) up to the end of 2018, the latest expected date for the reactor to begin supplying electricity. The Areva-Siemens consortium maintains that TVO's allegations are "unfounded."
The Areva-Siemens consortium began construction of Olkiluoto 3 in 2005 under a turn-key contract signed with TVO in late 2003. Completion of the 1600 MWe reactor was originally scheduled for 2009, but the first-of-a-kind EPR project has suffered various delays and setbacks.
The ongoing arbitration proceedings through the ICC were initiated by the supplier consortium in December 2008, and may yet continue for several years.
Areva-Siemens' 23 October filing initially contained an incorrect total for the claim of €3.5 billion ($4.4 billion), which was subsequently updated to €3.4 billion ($4.3 billion).
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
