Finnish sub-contractor selected to prepare Hanhikivi site
Russia's Titan-2 has selected the first Finnish sub-contractor for construction work at the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant project in Finland.
Destia will start work this month and spend six months preparing the site by removing soil and vegetation, carrying out excavation work and building embankments.
Announcing the contract today, Titan-2 said that special consideration had been given to companies from northern Finland familiar with the site area. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.
Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in 2018 once the Finnish government awards a construction licence pursuant to the country's Nuclear Energy Act, Titan-2 said.
The company's deputy director, Alexander Zmikhnovskiy, said further construction contracts would be announced in the near future.
The Hanhikivi project is owned by Finland's Fennovoima, in which a 34% stake is held by RAOS Voima Oy, the Finnish subsidiary set up last year by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom for the purpose of buying a share in the company. Rusatom Overseas, a Rosatom subsidiary that manages its overseas projects, announced in January that contracts had been signed at the end of December with Titan-2, Atomenergomash and Gidropress.
Titan-2, the main contractor for the Hanhikivi 1 project, is also leading construction work at unit 1 of the Leningrad II project in Sosnovy Bor, Russia, which is the reference plant for the Finnish unit. It is also the main building contractor for RAOS Voima Oy.
A Gidropress-designed AES-2006 plant, which uses a 1200 MWe-class reactor, Hanhikivi 1 will be built at Pyhäjoki in northern Finland and is scheduled to start generating electricity by 2024.
Earlier this month, the Finnish government announced that domestic ownership of Fennovoima now exceeded 65%, following new financial commitments from utility Fortum, construction and project management company SRV and stainless steel maker Outokumpu. The processing of Fennovoima's construction licence application can now proceed.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
