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REC Silicon’s Silicon III plant at Moses Lake, Washington has met with further delays, following concerns for “process safety reasons” during the ramp-up. The plant had run successfully for 10 days prior to the decision being made to stop production as a result of instabilities in operating parameters.

The news comes less than a week after the company announced that the initial ramp phase had begun. The company reiterated its statement prior to the ramp-up that interruptions are to be expected during such an operation.

A Reuters report on the news quoted new CEO Ole Enger as saying that it was "impossible to be precise" on how long the shutdown would last, and that it was "perfectly normal" to have problems in this early phase of such plants. Simulations of real data have to be carried out and analyzed before the plant can resume production.

The company will provide an update on progress during the presentation of the Q1 2009 financial report on April 29, 2009.