In light of recent criticisms of allegedly shoddy work and poor supervision, the government has asked STUK to submit a report on how work at Olkiluoto measures up to international standards. In particular, the Ministry wants more information on whether internationally accepted recommendations for oversight and communication are being followed.
This demand comes just one day after STUK submitted a report to the Ministry defending against allegations of sub-par welding and insufficient supervision.
STUK: No Shortcomings
In its first report, STUK says it has monitored all welding work systematically and no shortcomings were found in planning or carrying out the project. However it says there were some minor deficiencies in the monitoring of assembly welding. Nevertheless STUK maintains that all of the welders were skilled at their job.
Last week the YLE investigative journalism programme Ajankohtainen kakkonen reported that construction work at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor site had been carried out without proper supervision.
The programme also claimed that the French firm Bouygues Travaux Publics, which is in charge of the construction, had forbidden workers to talk about the construction progress with anyone. Bouygues chief shop steward told the programme that employees had been told specifically not to mention quality problems even to the client, power company TVO.
According to STUK, Bouygues says all workers are obligated to tell management if they detect possible safety problems.