Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear, based in France, has been contracted to design the first phase of instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for the Hanhikivi-1 NPP, which is being built in Finland by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. The plant's main building contractor, Titan-2, said on 26 April that it had reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce for "the most important parts of the safety I&C systems architecture" for Hanhikivi-1, a Russian-designed 1,200MWe AES-2006 VVER pressurised water reactor. Titan-2 said the agreement "is important, because the documentation delivered can be utilised in moving towards the design phase of individual I&C systems". According to the agreement, Rolls-Royce will design the architecture and deliver its documentation to Fennovoima in 2016.
Titan-2 chairman Gregory Naginsky said Rolls-Royce "is an experienced provider of safety I&C systems in the nuclear power plant sector", and cited the company's involvement in the I&C system upgrade of Finland's Loviisa NPP, which hosts two Russian designed VVER-440 reactors.
Hanhikivi-1 will have several, separated I&C systems that secure the plant's safe operation and shutdown in different situations, Titan-2 said. Fennovoima, the company leading the Hanhikivi project, plans to start building Hanhikivi-1 in 2018. The plant is expected to start producing electricity for its owners in 2024. A 34% stake in Fennovoima is held by RAOS Voima Oy, the Finnish subsidiary set up in 2014 by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom for the purpose of buying a share in the company.
