Press release - September 27, 2006
Areva, the French nuclear company, which is building a new reactor in Finland, announced massive loss in their profits for the first half of 2006. Income from nuclear operations fell from 373 million Euros to 73 million Euros, due to the contract for the Finnish reactor (1).
"The Finnish nuclear reactor was heralded as the start of a
European nuclear 'renaissance' and has swiftly become the nightmare
for the nuclear industry Greenpeace predicted," said Jan Vande
Putte of Greenpeace International.
In June, only one year after the start of the construction, the
project ran into delays of at least a year, equating to one-month
delay for every month of construction. On top of that, the Finnish
regulator admitted major problems in the quality control, raising
safety concerns.
The reality is that the nuclear industry is in a deep crisis.
The last reactor started in Europe was in 1999, and the reactor in
Finland will now take at least 11 years to build. Meanwhile,
renewable energy sources, which have a massive potential in
Finland, are booming in the rest of Europe. On average, over the
last five years, windturbines with 6,000MW capacity started energy
production each year, which is the equivalent output of two large
nuclear power plants.
"Nuclear power is not only highly dangerous, polluting and
proliferating nuclear weapons," Vande Putte said, "but it is also
incapable of delivering its promises to the energy market. It is
however the champion in sucking up vast financial resources, which
would be better used if invested in renewable energy and energy
efficiency. The climate cannot afford such nuclear adventures any
more."
Other contacts: Jan Vande Putte, Climate & Energy Campaigner, +32 496 161 584Mhairi Dunlop, Greenpeace International Communications, +44 7801 212 960
Notes: 1. www.areva.com 2. Areva signed in 2003 a contract for a fixed price with the Finnish company TVO. Cost overruns will therefore have to be carried by the state-owned Areva Group.