Europe's Largest Reactor Begins Full Operation
Finland's OL3 begins operation 14 years behind schedule
Finland's Olkiluoto 3, OL3, nuclear reactor, early Sunday, began regular output.
The much delayed operation is expected to boost energy security in a region following shortage of gas and power supplies from Russia.
OL3's operator, Teollisuuden Voima, TVO, a subsidiary owned by Finnish utility Fortum, FORTUM.HE, and a consortium of energy and industrial companies, said the reactor, Europe's largest, is expected to meet about 14 percent of the Nordic nation's electricity demand, thereby reducing energy imports from neighbouring Sweden and Norway.
The new reactor, Reuters reports TVO as saying in a statement after completing the transition, is expected to produce for at least 60 years.
"The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition," TVO Chief Executive, Jarmo Tanhua, said in a statement.
The OL3 reactor is coming on stream barely 24 hours after Germany witched off its last three Reactors on Saturday, just as Sweden, France, Britain and others are planning to up development on new projects.
Construction of the reactor, originally scheduled to start operation in 2009, began in 2005. Its completion was plagued and delayed by technical challenges.
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