Fortum has announced that air-cooling towers will be built at its two-unit Loviisa nuclear power plant in Finland in 2014. The new air-cooling system will improve plant preparedness for "extreme conditions" such as an oil spill that could leave seawater unavailable for cooling, Fortum said.
The system, to be supplied by Hungarian firm GEA EGI Contracting/Engineering Co. Ltd, consists of two air-cooling towers per reactor unit. One tower will be used to remove decay heat from the reactor, with the other taking heat from the spent fuel pools and other safety-critical equipment.
The towers will be located in square buildings, each measuring 10 x 15 meters and about 10 meters in height.
Fortum noted that Loviisa is already equipped with back-up systems for loss of seawater, but said that the new air-cooling towers "will reinforce its safety even further."
The project to install the cooling towers forms part of the post-Fukushima stress-test response at Loviisa. The station comprises two 520 MW VVER reactors that began operation in 1977 and 1980, respectively.
