Areva announce massive losses in nuclear operations

"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."