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A request for tenders for the construction of Pallas was launched in December 2007 and an offer from the Invap-Isolux partnership from Argentina and Spain was chosen. Areva of France and the Korea Power Engineering Company of South Korea also pitched for the contract.
But NRG said today the financing side of the Pallas construction has not been finalised and this has resulted in changes to the project schedule. As a result, NRG has decided to discontinue the tender process.
NRG said that in the coming months it will develop and test “the feasibility of various financing plans” and will “synchronise the Pallas project with the availability of financial resources”. NRG said the project support structure will also be further organised.
The extension of the preparatory phase will not affect the timing of the environmental impact assessment or the choice of location.
NRG, which operates the existing HFR at Petten on behalf of its owner, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, has said the final choice of location will be made in the spring of 2010.
The construction of Pallas requires an investment of several hundreds of millions of euro. NRG said the timing of the availability of the financial resources will play an important role in the project planning and the date that the reactor will enter into operation.
The reactor will replace the HFR, which has been in operation since 1961 and is reaching the end of its economic life.
NRG said Pallas will guarantee the production of medical isotopes and the continuation of nuclear research.
HFR is one of five research reactors that produces radioactive medical isotopes, used an estimated 40 million times annually for cancer treatment and the diagnosis of heart attacks.
Construction of Pallas is expected to start in 2012 and it could be operational by 2016.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Study Launched To Plan Replacement Petten Research Reactor (News No. 14, 20 January 2005)
Permit Procedure Starts For Replacement Dutch Research Reactor (News in Brief No. 149, 19 November 2009)
Petten Is Best Site For New Research Reactor, Says NRG (News in Brief No. 159, 8 December 2009)
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