Loviisa I&C upgrade contract re-assigned

Finnish utility Fortum has awarded a contract to Rolls-Royce to complete the modernization of the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems at its Loviisa nuclear power plant having terminated its contract with Areva-Siemens.

Finnish utility Fortum has awarded a contract to Rolls-Royce to complete the modernization of the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems at its Loviisa nuclear power plant having terminated its contract with Areva-Siemens.

Loviisa 1 and 2 (Image: Fortum)

Fortum said that it has agreed with Areva-Siemens on the discontinuation of the current I&C modernization project agreement and the work that the consortium will complete.

The Finnish company said, "During the planning and testing of the next phase of the current automation modernization agreement, it appeared that the implementation of the current project would have been further delayed from its original time schedule and would have taken too long to complete." Fortum did not specify the cause of the delay or its impact on the project.

At the same time, Fortum announced that work under the next phase of the I&C modernization would be carried out by UK-based engineering company Rolls-Royce.

Under the terms of the contract - the value of which has not been disclosed - Rolls-Royce is to supply all the required systems, including planning, testing and installation. Finnish process engineering company Metso will be Rolls-Royce's sub-supplier for non-safety I&C, field design and implementation on the site. The work is to be completed by the end of 2018.

Unique reactors

The Loviisa units are unique in that the reactors are of the Russian VVER-440 design, but have Western I&C systems and enhanced safety features, such as strengthened containments. Unit 1 was commissioned in 1977 and unit 2 in 1981. Licence extensions were issued in July 2007, enabling the units to operate until 2027 and 2030 respectively.

A project to upgrade the Loviisa I&C systems from analogue to digital systems was launched in 2005. Originally planned to be completed this year, the project is being carried out in four phases.

During the first phase, only limited functions were upgraded. The second phase covers safety-critical systems, such as reactor and plant protection systems. The next two phases are the most extensive, with I&C systems of the primary circuit being renewed in the third phase and those of the secondary circuit renewed in the fourth.

In addition to upgrading the I&C systems at Loviisa, Fortum is also modernizing the turbines and installing new air-cooling towers.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News