Better (very, very) late than never.

Sixteen years after the start of work, the EPR nuclear reactor built by the French Areva in Finland started up overnight from Monday to Tuesday at 3:22 am local (1:22 GMT).

It is 12 years late compared to the date initially planned.

For now, electricity production is due to start at around 30% of power with the connection to the grid in January.

Normal commissioning is scheduled for June, said Finnish energy company TVO in a press release.

“The timing of the start was historic.

The last time a reactor was launched in Finland dates back more than 40 years, and even in Europe this event dates back to around 15 years, ”said the operator of the Olkiluoto plant, referring to the launch. a reactor in Romania in 2007. The Olkiluoto EPR will become the most powerful reactor in operation in Europe.

With a production capacity of 1,650 megawatts, it should supply around 15% of the Nordic country's consumption.

Marjo Mustonen, vice-president of TVO, praised "Finland's greatest contribution to the climate".

The woes of the Olkiluoto-3 EPR

Designed to revive nuclear energy after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, in particular thanks to a considerable concrete structure and safety improvements, the EPR encountered major construction problems, particularly in Finland but also in Flamanville in France . In Olkiluoto, these difficulties led to long and sharp tensions between TVO, Areva and the Finnish nuclear authority, Stuk. TVO signed an agreement in March 2019 to end the litigation, providing for compensation of 450 million euros to be paid to it. The Covid-19 had in turn caused further delays on the Finnish site, on a site where two old reactors are already in operation.

Only two EPR reactors had so far entered into operation in the world, those of the Taishan power plant in China.

Their construction began after that of Olkiluoto-3, the first nuclear reactor to be ordered in the European Union since Chernobyl.

Reactor number 1 at this plant located near Hong Kong has been shut down since July after an incident, described as "current" by Beijing.

No "renaissance" for nuclear energy

Launched in 1992, the EPR technology was co-developed by the French Areva and the German Siemens within their joint subsidiary, from which Siemens has since withdrawn. Designed to operate for 60 years, the “European Pressurized Water Reactor” is based on the most widely used pressurized water reactor technology in the world. If the problems of the EPR then the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011 dampened hopes of a "renaissance", nuclear energy sees its prospects improving again in the face of the climate crisis. Using uranium, nuclear electricity does not emit CO2 during its production and is generally a very low carbon energy.

Sign of a more favorable economic situation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this year raised its projections for the first time since Fukushima, now forecasting a doubling of the installed nuclear power by 2050 in the scenario the most favorable.

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