A Finnish construction company has received another contract for excavation of tunnels for the nation’s spent fuel repository.
Posiva Oy, the organization in charge of the project, on Wednesday announced the award of the 17 million-euro contract to Helsinki-based YIT. The contract will cover two central tunnels and five disposal tunnels, according to a YIT press release. Excavation is scheduled to begin late this year and to last two-and-a-half years.
This is YIT’s third excavation contract for Posiva.
“During our previous contracts, our cooperation with Posiva was very smooth and we are very pleased to be able to continue this cooperation through such a challenging new contract,” Aleksi Laine, YIT senior vice president for rock and special engineering, said in the release. “YIT has a lot of experience in demanding tunnel construction and for us, this new contract represents an interesting opportunity to leverage the strong competence we have.”
Posiva, owned by two Finnish energy companies, is building the disposal facility for used fuel from two nuclear power plants. The material will be buried in bedrock between 400 and 450 meters underground at Olkiluoto island. Disposal is scheduled to begin in the 2020s, with the facility being closed off about a century later.
Finland has four reactors at two power plants, with a fifth reactor under construction, according to Posiva.
