The reactor pressure vessel has been installed in the reactor building of the Olkiluoto-3 European pressurised water reactor being built by the Areva-Siemens consortium in Finland.
Areva said today the reactor pressure vessel, weighing about 420 tonnes, was transported from its storage hangar to just outside the reactor containment, and then lifted into the reactor building before its final vertical introduction into the reactor pit.
This stage will kick off “a flurry of installation activities” for heavy nuclear components, coinciding with the installation and start-up testing of electro-mechanical systems, Areva said.
The other heavy components – steam generators and pressuriser – will be installed by the end of the year.
The Areva-Siemens consortium said earlier this month that most work on the unit will be finished by the end of 2012, with operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj saying the unit should start commercial operation some time during 2013.
