Suspicion of Russian reliability fuels change of heart

Less than 25 years after the Chernobyl disaster, the European nuclear industry is witnessing a remarkable revival. The energy policies of several governments have shifted substantially over the past few years, driven by concerns over energy security and climate change, and many European Union members are looking to the construction of new nuclear reactors as a way to solve these problems. France and Finland have been enthusiastic champions of nuclear power for some time and are leading the wave of new investment, with France's Flamanville 3 and Finland's Olkiluoto 3 plants due to start generating power in 2012. The nuclear renaissance is most striking in countries such as the UK, Sweden and Italy that had decided to phase out nuclear power but are now planning massive investment in new reactors. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, have signed an accord on civilian nuclear co-operation that could result in the first reactors being built in Italy since 1987, when a national referendum halted Italy's nuclear industry in the wake of Chernobyl.

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