Return of the Atom

In the Finnish town of Eurajoki, the construction of a nuclear reactor has been underway since 2004. It would be the first in Western Europe since the Chernobyl disaster. This expansion of the existing nuclear power station should ring in a new atomic age, at least in the minds of some. The local government is delighted with the prospects of cheap energy and job opportunities, and the village has already been treated to a beautiful ice hockey stadium and Christmas lights all over. But what begins as an ambitious project degenerates into a village farce that reveals the entire gamut of human weaknesses. Though the reactor was supposed to be completed in 2009, a series of setbacks has led to one delay after another. The mayor continues to justify himself to the city council while the once unanimous investors squabble about the poor planning, construction flaws, employment scandals and security leaks. A few still stubbornly protest against the storage of nuclear waste, but most of the residents patiently resign themselves to the fact that big money always wins. Meanwhile, plans for the construction of a fourth reactor have already been approved. follows the complications surrounding the reactor over the course of 10 years and sketches an occasionally hilarious but primarily disturbing picture of naive managers, shameless pride and appalling greed.