In Finland, the Olkiluoto 2 nuclear reactor has been disconnected from the electricity grid due to a turbine failure. The problems have no impact on safety, according to Finnish media Yle on Friday. The disconnection of the reactor is expected to last three days.

The operator TVO says that the problems are due to increased humidity in the turbine.

The reactor normally produces 890MW, which is slightly less than the Swedish nuclear power plants, which normally produce over 1000MW.

In April, the Finns turned on their new Olkiluoto 3 reactor, which will supply up to 14% of the country’s electricity demand.

The new reactor at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant was postponed and delayed several times.

Finland is interested in nuclear power alongside wind energy, as the country has a strong desire to be energy independent. This is partly due to the political situation in the country and the historical desire to distance itself from Russia.

The Olkiluoto nuclear power plant is one of Finland’s two nuclear power plants - the other is the Loviisa nuclear power plant, which has two Soviet-built VVER reactors.

On April 15th this year, Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants despite opposition from many climate scientists.

Germany has been working on closing its nuclear power plants since 2002.

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel gave further impetus to the phase-out following a Japanese accident in 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami hit the east coast of Japan, destroying the large Fukushima nuclear power plant. This created the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Simon Øst Vejbæk)