Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on December 21 that its unit RAOS Project, the plant supplier of the Finnish Hanhikivi-1 nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, has submitted the Basic Design Stage 1 documentation package containing technical solutions description to Fennovoima.

According to Rosatom, the package has been reviewed by Fennovoima’s specialists and conditionally accepted for further work.

“Prior to submitting the PSAR documents to the regulator, we conduct our own independent review and assessment of the safety of the design,” Fennovoima Utility Operations Director Janne Liuko said. “As the responsible owner and operator of the future NPP, we consider independent review necessary at all stages,” he added.

The Basic Design Stage 1 package comprises the main stages of documentation development for the creation of the NPP design, Rosatom said in a press release. In accordance with the EPC contract, the submitted package includes description of such key areas as conceptual and functional NPP design, 3D model, NPP systems and buildings design.

The newly submitted design documentation provides the basis for the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR), which shall be reviewed and accepted by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) before the construction license is granted by the Finnish government.

Consisting of 15 batches, PSAR is the main document of the license application. It presents a detailed description of all safety-related aspects: NPP site selection, basic design and technical solutions, safety measures, as well as the results of design validations from a safety point of view, the press release read.

To date, five PSAR batches have already been submitted by the Customer to STUK for review. The goal of RAOS Project is to deliver two more batches of documents to Fennovoima before the end of this year and to complete the Preliminary Safety Analyses Report in spring 2021.

STUK requirements in terms of the detailing level of documents at licensing stage are higher if compared to most other countries. This high level of detail at the construction license stage provides advantages for further project stages, avoiding delays and saving the need for works to be re-designed after the actual construction started.

The engineering director at RAOS Project for the Hanhikivi-1 NPP, Ivan Doshchuk, explained that the Basic Design Stage 1 forms the core of documentation that outlines technical design solutions. “This year, it was handed over to the Customer, reviewed and conditionally accepted. We have been able to resolve the main part of important design issues at this stage. In the next few months of 2021, we will continue our work to address a number of details. Our common task is to settle all technical design details at the “paper stage” in order to minimise or even eliminate the need for rework during NPP construction. In addition to the high level of detail, the design has to be submitted fully digitised, which means that we need to include a 3D model and an information model of the future NPP into the package of documents we hand over to the Customer,” Doshchuk said, adding that these elements allow for effective change management at subsequent stages of the NPP life cycle, providing transparency and consistency in design solutions.

Development, review and acceptance of the Basic Design Stage 1 documentation is a heavily interactive process between the customer and the plant supplier, Rosatom said, adding that meeting this important milestone is a testimonial of project progress with a mutual understanding of requirements in the areas of technology, quality, safety and project implementation.