Greenpeace boards reactor equipment ship

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

COPENHAGEN — Six Greenpeace activists Monday boarded a ship carrying French-made steam turbines bound for a new nuclear power station in Finland, the environmental group said.

The protestors climbed on board the Happy Ranger as it made its way through the Fehmarn Belt strait between Denmark and Germany and unfurled banners including one which read "Nuclear madness, made in France".

Greenpeace wants construction halted on a third-generation nuclear reactor currently being built at Olkiluoto, in southwest Finland, by the French company Areva.

Birgitte Lesanner, the campaign group's spokeswoman in Denmark, said the captain of the Dutch-flagged Happy Ranger had said he would not use force to stop the activists spending the night on board.

In a statement, Greenpeace Nordic campaigner Lauri Myllyvirta said the Olkiluoto project had so far been a "disaster".

"This dangerous mistake has cost Finland years of action on climate protection," Myllyvirta said.

"By choosing nuclear power the Finnish government shut the door on investments in renewable energy and energy saving projects."

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