The subtext of this little explanation from French nuclear giants AREVA is that it is using the people of Finland as guinea pigs in an experiment:

Yes, we have faced challenges with the construction of the first EPR™ reactor, Olkiluoto 3 in Finland. AREVA will be the first to admit that this project is behind its ambitious original schedule and has been open about the entire process … This experience means that when AREVA begins construction of its next reactor, which we hope will be a U.S. EPR™ reactor in the United States, AREVA and its project teams will have completed several others internationally, giving us the experience, insight, and workforce to put us ahead of the game.

Poor Finland, if only they’d waited a little longer, someone else would have been the test subject. As it is, France and China are also lined up for experimentation.

Using the project management experience and incorporating lessons learned in Finland, AREVA’s EPR™ reactors in France and China are on a much tighter schedule than their respective predecessors.

Is the EPR being built in Flamanville, France really on a tighter schedule? It’s already two years late. Remember that Olkiluoto 3 was two years behind schedule after two years of construction – Flamanville 3 has a long way to go yet before AREVA starts boasting. 

***

Meanwhile, Volker Beckers, chief executive of RWE npower has been complaining about how terribly unfair things are for the nuclear industry:

"I want to ensure that nuclear investments take place but because of the current situation, investments go into only gas-fired power stations or the renewable sector," he said.

How can governments be so cruel? They only offer double the loan guarantees to nuclear than they do to renewables. They only bail out nuclear decommissioning projects with billions. The American Power Act only proposes a subsidy to the nuclear industry of a tiny $140 billion.

The public subsidies the industry has enjoyed since its birth are incredible. Nuclear power started gobbling down public money in the 1950s when it was a cover story for atomic weapons programmes and has never stopped. The poor, deprived souls. It’s all rather unseemly, like a spoilt child who’s had a big cake all to himself and is now screaming that he wants the other children’s ice cream.