Russia to bid for Finnish nuclear contract

Russia intends to bid for the construction of a nuclear reactor in Finland, the Russian minister for atomic energy, Alexander Roumiantsev, told the Itar-Tass agency on June 10.

The Finnish Parliament last month gave the go-ahead for the construction of a fifth reactor to be operational by 2010. The project had been repeatedly shelved since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

A call for bids should take place in the coming three or four months for the construction of the reactor for an estimated price of around $1.5 billion.

Russia will be bidding against Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States but stands a fair chance of winning, the Russian minister told Itar-Tass.

He indicated that Finnish experts recently visited the site of a Russian-built reactor under construction in China. Finland already has two nuclear power plants with two reactors each.

The decision to allow a fifth reactor angered environmentalists, who fear it will send the wrong message to the rest of Europe.

The Green League, a member of Finland's ruling coalition, warned that it might withdraw from the government in protest.

A number of European countries, including Sweden and Germany, are preparing to phase out nuclear power.

But energy shortages, international agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and the lack of viable alternatives have forced some governments to reconsider its benefits.