21.05.2008 Lauri Myllyvirta

The French magazine Capital reports that Olkiluoto 3 is EUR2.2 billion over budget while earlier the highest estimate has been 1.5 billion.

Finnish parliament and public were originally told the reactor would cost EUR2.5 billion and contract price was 3.2 billion.

According to Capital, the recent timetable, which already includes a 2.5 year delay, might not hold either.

Read the story (in French)

Automated translation, Olkiluoto.info assumes no responsibility for errors or unintentional humour:

Areva: the losses swell in Finland and would play in favor of a merger with
Alstom

The losses of Areva on the construction of the Finnish EPR Olkiluoto 3 could
prove themselves astronomical. With the world-wide leader of nuclear power,
confidential sources evoke henceforth an amount of 2.2 billion Euros of
penalties of delay a` to pour a` term to the customer, the company of
electricity TVO.

While signing, in December 2003, this contract of 3 billion Euros (of which 1.7
for the nuclear party), Areva, boss of orchestra of the project, had been
involved itself a` to put back the keys d´OL3 a` the mi-2009, be four years
apre`s the beginning of the works of this all first EPR, while the group always
had delivered the reactors of the preceding generation in five years.

Unfortunately, the delays quickly accumulated themselves, notably in the big
work, which has besides drives a` to call Bouygues a` the rescousse. Suddenly,
Areva stuffed on a new objective of delivery in 2011, that the builder does not
seem aujourd´hui more of the all certain one to be able to hold.

This is as well as the reactor would be likely cou^ter in at the end of 5.2
billion Euros to the French builder. This exit would weaken evidently the
project of opening of the capital regarding an autonomous development of Areva,
that defends his president, Anne Lauvergeon. The State, that does not wish to
mop up the bill of this disaster, could privilege a parallel of the nuclear
champion with Alstom, as the proposes Martin Bouygues, the principal
shareholder of the manufacturer of TGV and of central ones to coal. To
condition,
well on, that the concrete king raises Areva.