31 Dec (NucNet): The Franco-German Areva-Siemens consortium constructing the Olkiluoto-3 European pressurised water reactor (EPR) unit in Finland has filed a request for arbitration concerning delays to the project and related costs.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) said it had been told yesterday by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that Areva-Siemens had made the request.

TVO said the request relates to a claim presented previously by the consortium to TVO, which TVO had found to be without merit. �Understandably, TVO will carefully study the documentation now presented and will respond to it,� the company said in a statement.

The statement said that based on ICC rules, and on the plant supply contract, arbitration is a private process and not to be commented on in public. TVO said it would therefore not elaborate on the subject.

In October 2008, TVO was told by Areva-Siemens that the 1,600 megawatt EPR would be delayed to 2012 from its initial start-up target of 2009.

TVO claimed for compensation from the consortium for losses and costs incurred due to the delay.

At the same time, Areva-Siemens said that confronted with construction delays, it had succeeded in convincing TVO that a number of measures were required to �accelerate and improve� the construction programme.

A statement said that the Areva-Siemens consortium signed a turnkey contract with TVO under which the customer committed to validating documents sent by the consortium to the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) within two months, but in fact TVO was taking an average of nine months to do so.

The statement said the consortium had started arbitration proceedings for a number of other contractual aspects.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Finnish Utility �Disappointed� Over New Setback For Olkiluoto-3 (News No. 186, 10 August 2007

Startup Of Olkiluoto-3 EPR May Be Postponed Until 2012 (World Nuclear Review No. 40, 17 October 2008)

Construction Consortium Publishes Update On Olkiluoto-3 (News No. 80, 20 October 2008)

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