FORTUM CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 23.10.2020
Both units at Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant are back in production upon completion of their annual outages. The short annual outage of Unit 2 lasted 25 days and was completed on 28.8.2020. The extensive inspection outage of Unit 1 lasted 54 days and was completed on 22.10.2020. The annual outage of Unit 1 was delayed by approximately nine days from the original plan due to troubleshooting and repair of one main circulating pump. Thereafter, additional inspections were also performed on other main circulation pumps. To ensure successful annual outages, a multitude of special arrangements were made at the power plant to prevent coronavirus infections.
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. The periodic inspection carried out every eight years was performed during Loviisa 1’s extensive annual outage; the inspection covered, e.g., the reactor pressure vessel and its inner parts, and pressure tests were performed on the primary and secondary circuit’s pressurised equipment and pipelines. Also a containment leak test, lasting about two days, was carried out. In conjunction with the annual outages, about one quarter of the fuel in both units was replaced.
This year, two main generator stators were replaced to more efficient ones. During 2014 – 2020 all main generators, busducts, switches and main transformers have been replaced at Loviisa.
“With all the works completed in the outages, we ensure safe and reliable operation in the future. It’s a great achievement that, in spite of the challenging and exceptional conditions, we succeeded in performing all the planned annual outage works,” says Loviisa power plant’s Deputy Director Thomas Buddas.
“This demonstrates the exceptional commitment of our own and our subcontractors’ employees to the quality implementation of the annual maintenance work and achievement of our common goal,” he continues.
In addition to the 500 power plant employees who participated in the annual outage, there were also nearly a thousand external workers. Some 75 per cent of the workers were Finns.
Fortum Corporation
Group Communications
Further information:
Thomas Buddas, Deputy Director, Loviisa power plant, tel. +358 10 455 3710
Loviisa power plant
In 2019, the load factor at Fortum’s fully-owned Loviisa nuclear power plant was 92.4%. 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 450 million. In 2019, 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, 500 of them work at the Loviisa power plant. Additionally, nearly 100 permanent employees of other companies work in the power plant area every day.