AREVA takes ass-kicking from own nuclear reactor
A guest blog by Aslihan Tumer, Nuclear Campaigner at Greenpeace International
I've got a nuclear energy riddle for you:
What is dangerous, costs 5.5 billion euros, and may end in bankruptcy?
The answer:
French nuclear giant AREVA's Olkiluoto 3 reactor, currently under (severely-delayed) construction in Finland.
The OL3 is an amazing construction project in so many ways: 4 years into the construction it is already suffering an amazing delay of more than 3 years, the costs have doubled from 2.5 billion EUR to the amazing amount of 5.5 billion EUR, and the OL3 project has single-handedly wiped out AREVA's half year profits. Yet - amazingly! - Areva is now demanding extra money on top of the agreed price from Finland.
Let's look at the situation from a different angle:
The roof of your home needs to be replaced and you have made an agreement with a contractor to replace it before the winter. Time passes. A bit more time passes. Then the date you had agreed the roof would be finished also passes. The contractor asks for more time, in order to be sure that everything is safe. More time passes. Then, suddenly - with the roof nowhere near finished - the contractor says he wants more money. And he's not going to finish your roof without that money. And if you don't like that - you can sit in a house without a roof and enjoy the winter weather.
What would you do? Hand over the money? Wouldn't you fire this contractor and warn your neighbors about him?
This is what cheap, reliable, safe nuclear energy is for you and all of us: a big fat lie. Yet there are many governments buying it - despite examples like AREVA's OL3 reactor. Read more about the amazing OL3 on Nuclear Reaction. This Saturday thousands of protesters from all around Germany are gathering in Berlin to make sure Germany will maintain its nuclear phase-out. I will be there, are you coming?
To get updates from Aslihan at the Nuclear protest this weekend please follow Greenpeace on Twitter!
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Comments
Hello!
now Saturday 5th Sept.2009 ?
The German Regime gives this year "social money" more than 850 billion euros to banks and industries!
if the peoples of suomi finnland will have this franch nucleare engine?
They must only ask quickly mademosselle märkle (chef of germany) and say: we give you mor than 400 workplaces with a "Nokia idealistic center" in Bochum for 1200 psychiatric jobless peoples (look and hear {german language} ARD, WDR, Monitor, 13.Aug.2009), than I can not see a problem to realiz it!
More Power for Lappland! :)
Posted by: Redlich, Anselm | September 1, 2009 8:25 PM
Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!!!!
Posted by: Annie | September 2, 2009 4:15 AM
This is just routine French enterpreneurship, nothing to do with nuclear technology. Same thing happened in Hungary with Subway 4 in Budapest. Should we then phase out subways in Budapest and use horses instead?
Posted by: Aslihan | September 2, 2009 8:27 AM
It is danger
Posted by: R Paguh Hudoro | September 9, 2009 10:34 AM
I never been forgot nuclear reactor accident in Armenia. so...destroyed to the all country had been reactor nuclear,such Korea North,USA,Rusia,and Israel
sincerely
subur Richard dean anderson
Posted by: SUBUR | September 9, 2009 11:40 AM
Im surprised that French tax payers are ready to pay for our energy production here in Finland. Or perhaps they are protesting, but I haven't heard about it. There must be corruption behind this on the French government level; I can't imagine how throwing away money like this would be possible otherwise. I'd actually like to ask a few French people, do you really want to give 2,5 billion euros of your money to us to support nuclear industry who's products can't compete on their own, despite having 50 years and enormous government subsidies to get them ready. If people want to save a few jobs in the nuclear industry, I'd say those are some damn expensive jobs. A lot more jobs could be created with that money in the renewable energy sector - kind of jobs that are most needed: assembly, construction, maintenance, etc.
Posted by: Ari T. | November 7, 2009 3:38 AM
Give a chance to your future, stop Areva !
Posted by: Patricia | November 8, 2009 3:37 AM
I don't really agree.
This Nuclear plant under construction is a "First of a Kind", it means something new that nobody had ever been in charge of the construction. Everybody knew that it was impossible to build it at this price and at this time, further more when AREVA NP did not build any nuclear plant within a decade because of the bad feeling of public opinion after Both events of Three Miles Island and Tchernobyl. It's part of a large scale strategy between AREVA, EDF, and several governements as Finland, France, China, UK and others. I'm working on the OL3 site right now. I don't believe Nuclear Energy is clean and cheap, but much more than only saying NO, we have to find a real and competitive solution to replace it. Actual Renewable energy are definitely not enough to bear the huge amount of electricity needed by our society. If you really want to do something, find a solution, stop just saying NO, it has never and will never help.
Posted by: FredO | November 13, 2009 9:23 AM
Hey Fred!
Very cool of you to stop by.
I asked Aslihan (one of our campaigners working on nukes) for a response. Here's what she said...
"Thanks for such a honest comment FredO. They clearly knew that it was going to take much longer to build than they announced. Not just because it is first of its kind but also historically nuclear power plants always taken two, three times longer than initially thought, and of course this means increasing cost. We are very aware of the climate change and we know nuclear energy is not going to solve it a bit, but create more problems. The solution to climate change and our energy needs are renewable energies and energy efficiency. Greenpeace has shown that it is possible to cut the emissions 80% by 2050, and phase out nuclear energy. Have a look at our energy revolution : www.greenpeace.org/energyrevolution
Posted by: Andrew | November 19, 2009 12:07 PM
Yes I totally agree.
Nuclear is a huge awful bullshit actually.
But this post is so stupid, and a worst bullshit, I hate when some dumb is talking about what he doesn't know like this.
You want to really know ?
Just look at this and after we can talk a little bit...
http://www.les-renseignements-genereux.org/var/fichiers/brochures-pdf/broch-nucle-20080217-web-a5.pdf
It's in french, sorry...
Posted by: FredO | November 25, 2009 9:14 AM