FINLAND: August 14, 2008


HELSINKI - Finland's nuclear safety authority said it plans further studies on safety in the building of the country's fifth nuclear reactor, after a Greenpeace report raised questions over welding works.


The authority (STUK) rejected the environmental group's claims it had found cases of misconduct in the approval of the safety-critical parts of the structure, but said it expects to launch a quick study on other weldings at the project.

"The ministry will ask for a report from us on this issue very soon and we are planning to respond to that within the next week," STUK's Assistant Director Petteri Tiippana told Reuters.

Finland's fifth nuclear reactor, a rare new nuclear project in largely nuclear-sceptical Western Europe, is being built by industry-owned utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) and is due to be completed in 2011.

The progress of the plant, which has faced two-year delay, is closely watched by older EU member states, wary of piling back into nuclear projects.

Tiippana said it was within the responsibility of both TVO and constructor Areva to make sure that security guidelines are followed through throughout the process.

"The safety-significant welds in the concrete structures are well done -- there are no deficiencies in the welding procedures, welding qualification and the welds themselves," Tiippana said.

"The welds that have a safety significance are well done and acceptable, and the concern that Greenpeace has made on the welding procedures is not correct."

But Greenpeace official Lauri Myllyvirta later said its report included load-bearing welds which fall under STUK's mandate.

"Six of the 11 welding procedure specifications we have obtained concern load-bearing welds," Myllyvirta said in an emailed statement.


SPECIFICATIONS

"The documents undeniably show that when the welding of the reactor building started, the required specifications had not been finalised or approved and hence the welders did not know how to fulfill the safety requirements," the statement said.

Myllyvirta said that the documents were neither available when STUK performed their first inspections nor when the first layer of concrete was cast over the structure, making further inspections or reparations impossible.

Areva said the consortium was "amazed" by the allegations on welding, and said there had been discussions about the organisation of the work.

The French company said subcontractor Bouygues had taken actions, but that the quality of the work and the product were never in question.

TVO's Martin Landtman, the reactor's project manager, told Reuters the report misrepresented several points, including welding instructions and supervision.

He said all the work was done according to safety regulations.

"Before the work started there were welding instructions," he said. "The work documents and coordinators were in place."

Bouygues was not immediately available for comment.

In a report prepared for Greenpeace, nuclear scientist Helmut Hirsch said the welding procedure specification for the steel framework, built by Bouygues for France's Areva, had been approved after the work had started.

"Specifications were approved and used without approval of a third party," the report said.

Hirsch made his assessment based on 11 documents on the matter by Greenpeace Nordic. The environmental group said the documents had been leaked from within the company.

"The nuclear reactor has been built for years in a way which would break regulations on common houses," said Myllyvirta. (Additional reporting by Marcel Michelson in Paris)


Story by Agnieszka Flak and Azer Sawiris


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE