Slowly, but perhaps not so surely, the nuclear power industry is moving forward. This last year has not been without its setbacks but, on balance, the positive events outweigh the negative ones. By now, even nuclear supporters are probably tired of being told just how important the contract to build an EPR in Finland is. (And maybe by this time next year, such praise will be directed towards France for following suit, as seems likely to be the case.) However, there are other signals that the industry is beginning to pick itself up in the industrialised countries. In the meantime, in several Asian countries - notably China - nuclear continues to grow. In Japan, Tepco is making progress in regaining public trust in the aftermath of the crack inspection scandal. However, a more recent setback came at the end of 2003 when Tohuku abandoned plans for its 825MWe BWR at Maki.
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