Teknos provided paints and coatings to the newly commissioned Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland.
The Finnish paints and coatings manufacturer Teknos has recently announced that its products have been employed to coat the steel and concrete surfaces of Olkiluoto 3, a nuclear power plant unit located in the municipality of Eurajoki (Western Finland). The company also provided technical support for the project.
Olkiluoto 3 – owned by Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) and supplied by the Areva-Siemens consortium – is the second EPR-type power plant to be completed in the world, with a capacity of 1,600 MW. These kinds of assets must be managed safely throughout their entire life cycle, so there are also special requirements regarding the coatings applied.
The paints and coating of Teknos used in nuclear power plants are high-class special products
and their quality is verified by extensive testing. The products of the company met all the technical requirements including the demanding Design Basis Accident (DBA) test, which verifies that the coatings of the internal structures at the nuclear facility are designed and built to withstand accidents without unfavourable effects on accident management.
“The testing of suitable coating systems started in 2004 with several potential paint suppliers. This made it possible for Olkiluoto 3 plant supplier to choose coatings for the plant already in the early stages of the project”, has stated Jori Välilä, the manager of Olkiluoto 3 civil quality control at TVO.
“Teknos is well known as a high-quality paint manufacturer and furthermore known as the experienced supplier of painting materials for Olkiluoto 1 and Olkiluoto 2 plants. It is the single domestic supplier for all required painting systems. In addition to on-time deliveries and competent guidance, the company was also available to support and solve problems at the construction site,” has added Kai Wienert from Bernhard Goldkuhle GmbH & Co. KG, the painting company of Turbine Island at the plant site.
The nuclear energy sector is a strictly regulated industry. In Finland, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority - STUK sets the requirements related to radiation, chemical resistance, decontamination, durability under operating conditions and postulated accident conditions as well as the fire technical properties for the paints and coatings used in these plants. Moreover, the condition of painting and coating is subject to regular in-service inspections and possible repairs are conducted based on the needs identified in these inspections.
“Due to the intricate nature of the modern nuclear power plant, the requirements are very high. Safety comes always first at nuclear power plants and all the set requirements must be fulfilled. It is important that the paint on the surfaces of nuclear power plants does not need the be maintained continuously and that the surfaces are easy to clean. Coatings used in nuclear power plant units need to meet extremely high durability requirements, in order to minimise the need for maintenance. The less the coating requires repairs the better it is,” has concluded Välilä