Siemens sees impact from Finnish plant delay

Monday, March 31, 2008

FRANKFURT, March 31 (Reuters) - German engineering group Siemens expects a "not insignificant" financial impact from delays in completing a nuclear power plant in Finland, a German daily reported on Monday.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted a Siemens spokesman as saying: "That is certainly aggravating."

French nuclear group Areva and Siemens are building the 1,600 megawatt Olkiluoto 3 reactor on Finland's west coast, the first new nuclear reactor to be constructed in Western Europe for more than a decade.

The report said analysts estimated the delays could amount to 700 million euros ($1.10 billion) to 1.5 billion euros in additional costs.

Siemens was not immediately available for comment.

The start-up of Finland's fifth nuclear power reactor, seen as a test case for Europe's nuclear future, had originally been scheduled for 2009 but at the end of last year was pushed back to mid-2011. The 3 billion euro project's start had already been postponed before.

Siemens was forced to issue a profit warning earlier this month due to project delays and cancelled orders after a review of three core businesses.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske)

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