EURAJOKI - After over a decade of delays, the deafening sound of Finland's new Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor finally running its turbine at full power was welcomed with joy -- and relief.
The Nordic country is hoping the plant will be able to ease the coming winter's challenges as Europe battles soaring energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"It has taken a lot of perseverance and years of hard work to get to this point, so we feel pretty good at the moment," Johanna Aho, a spokeswoman for the plant's operator TVO, told AFP.
The almost 300-degree Celsius steam gushing from the reactor turns the over 60-meter-long turbine up to 25 times every second, making a visit to the turbine island in protective gear feel as hot as one of Finland's ubiquitous saunas.
More than 12 years behind schedule, on September 30, Olkiluoto 3 reached full power for the first time since construction began in 2005.
With a power level of 1,600 megawatts, the reactor, located on Finland's southwestern coast, is now the most powerful in Europe and the third most powerful in the world.
Around 10 full power tests remain for the unit -- during which it will periodically stop producing electricity for several days or even weeks -- before normal operation starts in December.
- Support for nuclear -
When the new unit reached full power on September 30, TVO said the Olkiluoto plant accounted for around 40 percent of Finland's electricity production, with the Olkiluoto 1 and 2 reactors together producing approximately 21 percent and the new OL3 alone around 19 percent.
"That's a lot of electricity and it's the kind of steady, predictable and stable electricity production that nuclear power provides," Aho said.
In recent years, support for nuclear energy has grown in Finland, spurred by concern over climate change.
A May poll by trade association Finnish Energy showed 60 percent of Finns supported nuclear power, a record high.
But after Finnish group Fennovoima in May terminated a nuclear power project with Russia's Rosatom, citing risks linked to the war in Ukraine, there are no other nuclear reactor projects in the pipeline.
Finland gets around 50 to 60 percent of its electricity from hydro, wind, solar and biomass, with fossil fuels and peat comprising roughly 10 percent.