Caught between global warming and an energy crisis, Blair looks north for answer

Can UK be persuaded to follow the Finns and learn to love nuclear energy?

It is an unlikely spot for a nuclear power station. In the bay, sea eagles patrol the sky. There is even the odd moose. But this rugged west coast of Finland, surrounded by forests and lichen-encrusted boulders, is to be home to Europe’s biggest and newest nuclear reactor.

The Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) project is the first nuclear plant to be constructed in the EU since the Chernobyl disaster 20 years ago, and its progress is being followed by British ministers and environmentalists as Tony Blair seeks solutions to the looming energy crisis.

This weekend the cross-party environmental audit committee is due to publish a long-awaited report on how the UK can meet future energy demands, and senior members are likely to express reservations about replacing the country’s ageing nuclear power plants, citing security as a concern.

But Downing Street is said to favour investing in a new generation of reactors, a division which mirrors the debate in Finland three years ago. Environmentalists there now admit they made fundamental errors in their campaign.

The Guardian