Capacity extension plans for TVO-KPA-STORE in Finland

A clarification on plans to extend spent fuel storage capacity at Olkiluoto (KPA-store) was made in February 2002. Since then the decision was made to construct a new plant unit, Olkiluoto 3 (OL3), which is planned to start its operation in year 2009. The spent fuel of the new pressurized water reactor plant will be stored in the KPA-store extension part. OL3 will be an European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) design with a net power of 1600 MWe and an expected life time of 60 years. Also, the first and second Olkiluoto units have extended lifetime of 60 years. Spent fuel disposal will start in 2020. However, the need for spent fuel storage will increase since the second Olkiluoto plant unit will permanently shut down in 2040. Extension of KPA-store is not necessary if no new plant is constructed at the Olkiluoto site. However, the provision for further extensions is not excluded. It looks reasonable to extend the KPA-store with four additional pools. Three pools would be provided with fuel racks for OL3 spent fuel. The fourth extension pool would be reserved for emergency unload purposes. The investment costs for the KPA-store extension are about 29 million Euros with the dense fuel racks included. The storage extension should be available in year 2012. Sensitivity analyses show that if a new plant unit is constructed in coming years at the Olkiluoto site, then construction of a common new intermediate storage for the spent fuel is worth considering