Radioactive material leak at Europe’s largest nuclear reactor, investigation underway

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The incident occurred when a hatch in the reactor pool was not properly sealed before the filling process began. Nearly 100 cubic meters of slightly radioactive reactor coolant leaked into containment rooms as well as a floor drain system at Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant on Friday.

The plant’s operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said in a release that the leak had a low impact on radiation safety and “did not pose any risk to personnel, the environment, or nuclear safety”.

The company emphasized that safety measures were promptly implemented to mitigate any potential risks.
TVO stated that the leaked reactor coolant flowed into a drainage system designed to collect and manage such leakages within the containment.

The radioactive wastewater will be processed following established procedures using various systems, it said.

Olkiluoto 3 is Finland’s newest and largest nuclear reactor. It is also the most powerful nuclear power plant unit in Europe and the third most powerful globally. However, its construction was marred by significant delays. The project initially launched in 2005 but began full commercial production only in 2023—around 14 years behind schedule.

Europe's largest nuclear reactor reports radioactive material leak

Despite Friday’s leak, work on the nuclear reactor's annual outage, which began on 1 March, will continue as planned.

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