The seminar was supported by Business Oulu, an organization for business development in Northern Ostrobothnia. Rosatom Newsletter visited the event and talked to Fennovoima’s CEO Toni Hemminki about the current status of Hanhikivi 1 project.
– My first question is about potential subcontractors of the Hanhikivi project. Are they showing interest in cooperation and how strong is this interest judging by this meeting?
– I think it is not just this meeting and conference, but also previous events and discussions with several companies in Finland that show there is a great interest in Hanhikivi-1 project, which is now a flagship project, the biggest in the country.
– How many Finnish companies have contracts or agreements with Fennovoima?
– We have a site register to keep statistics of all companies which are working or have been working at the site. At the moment we have about 210 companies in this register, with over 200 from Finland.
– At the moment we are in the infrastructure preparation and licensing phase. These are current targets we need to achieve this year. Fennovoima is continuing to develop the management system. By the end of this year, we will submit the management system description for the construction phase and a roadmap of the operating phase.
– Do you see any possibility of Hanhikivi project costs growing? Like it happened to the Olkiluoto project when you did not expect any challenges.
– At this point I do not expect any cost increase like in Olkiluoto.
– What are the steps planned by Fennovoima for this year? And what is the current project status with STUK?
– At the moment we are in the infrastructure preparation and licensing phase. These are current targets we need to achieve this year. Fennovoima is continuing to develop the management system. By the end of this year, we will submit the management system description for the construction phase and a roadmap of the operating phase. The roadmap is very long-term when it comes to management systems. Then we are going to submit a big part of the design to STUK during this year – several different document batches as we call them. Then regarding the situation with STUK, our role is first to receive design documents from the Rosatom supply chain. We will check whether all the Finnish safety requirements are fulfilled in the documents. Then we will pass them to STUK and discuss any comments or amendment requirements it may have. This is basically our role. Now we are progressing in this process. STUK is also inspecting Fennovoima and the supply chain. RAOS Project Oy, Atomproekt and Gidropress have been inspected so far. And we are also preparing for discussions if STUK has any questions or requirements based on those inspections.
– Do you have any requirements from your side? What is the percentage of Finnish suppliers you want to have for this project? Is it a strict percentage?
– No, of course I am for freedom. I wish many Finnish companies to succeed and benefit from this project. We do not have any target percentage because it is safety and quality first, then commercial issues. So these are the best companies that will win the deals.
Hanhikivi 1 project status
At the moment, pre-construction activities are in progress at the project site, in both Fennovoima’s and the plant supplier’s (RAOS Project Oy) areas. Municipal engineering works are going on, and construction of the training building has started.
The construction phase provides a plenty of opportunities to Finnish companies. The register of businesses taking part in the construction was opened in July 2015. Today, the register includes about 200 companies.
In 2016, Destia, a local company subcontracted by the Russian engineering and construction group TITAN-2, will start excavation and quarrying on the site; these operations will last for about 18 months. Construction of the main gate building, office and administrative buildings, concrete mixing plants and other auxiliary buildings will begin also this year.
Representatives of the Finnish Construction Trade Union have been present at the site since January. The presence of a common shop steward and the general health and safety representative are part of the site agreement made between Fennovoima, the plant supplier, and trade unions in 2014. The site agreement aims at ensuring that the nuclear power plant construction site is in line with Finnish legislation and cooperation principles.
In March 2016, the company Titan-2 signed an environmental monitoring agreement with Finnish companies Nab Labs and EHP-Tekniikka. Nab Labs will measure dust, noise, and vibration levels during the construction. Additionally, it is responsible for analyzing water samples. EHP-Tekniikka is responsible for seawater monitoring in the construction area. They will draw up a report about impacts of dredging and banking operations on local waters.
In 2016 and 2017, the Hanhikivi peninsula will see the construction of infrastructure and auxiliary buildings. At present, only earth works are going on at the site. Some companies are engaged in the design and development of hydraulic, electric and sewerage systems.
