Finland's Olkiluoto power station was meant to symbolise the resurrection of nuclear power after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and to act as a showcase for Areva of France's new EPR reactor technology.
The first nuclear power station to be built in western Europe since Chernobyl, Olkiluoto 3 would demonstrate that nuclear energy was the obvious solution to growing concerns about CO2 emissions, high fossil fuel prices and dependence on imported energy sources.
Mikael Lilius, the chief executive of Finnish utility Fortum, was quoted as saying by Energia, an industry publication, on Monday that the Finland should grant a permit to build a nuclear power station to all three hopefuls.
"I cannot understand why one should start regulating who can build and who cannot when we have three willing builders," Mr Lilius told Energia, referring to Fennovoima, Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima.
The Finnish Construction Trade Union on Monday postponed the start of a strike affecting Teollisuuden Voima's Olkiluoto nuclear power station site by a week to 17 September.
The union added that Rimec, a Cyprus-registered subcontractor at the site, had until 16 September to come up with an explanation of suspected wage and occupational healthcare irregularities.
HELSINKI (Thomson Financial) - The Finnish government said Thursday it wanted the country's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) to clarify its inspection principles, following criticism of its work at a nuclear reactor building site.
'The (economy) ministry wants further reports from STUK on its inspection principles and precision, and how these compare to practices in other countries,' the Finnish employment and economy ministry, in charge of energy industry issues, said in a statement.
HELSINKI, July 30 (Reuters) - A small fire at the construction site for a new nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, western Finland, spread to two floors of the reactor building, before it was put out, plant operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Wednesday.
"A small amount of contruction materials had caught fire," TVO said in a statement, and added the fire was noticed at around 2:00 a.m (2300 GMT) and it was put out four hours later.
Greenpeace Finland said in a statement Monday that Brussels-based lobby the European Renewable Energies Federation had brought an action before the European Court of Justice challenging the European commission's September 2007 declaration that a 570-million-euro guarantee granted by Coface, a privatised company that continues to act in its eponymous role as the French government's export guarantee agency, to Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) did not constitute illegal state aid.
The French nuclear power company Areva could end up paying billions of euros to compensate for delays in the Olkiluoto nuclear power project.
A report in the online financial publication Capital said that Areva could pay the power generation company Teollisuuden Voima up to 2.2 billion euros. The publication based its report on information from confidential sources. Areva refutes the claims.
The No. 1 nuclear reactor at Olkiluoto on Finland's west coast remains offline due to an electrical problem. The fault was detected on Friday when technicians were re-starting the plant after annual maintenance work.
The TVO utility is trying to find out what caused the problem, and says that it is impossible to say when the reactor can be re-started.
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Nuclear power plant maker Areva denied a report on the website of the French business magazine Capital that it may be obliged to pay 2.2 billion euros in penalties to Finnish power generator TVO for delays in the construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant.
The power utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) on Friday filed an application for a decision-in-principle concerning the construction of a new nuclear power plant unit at Olkiluoto on Finland's west coast.
