Areva's troublesome EPR reactor project in Finland yesterday received a clean bill of health after welding work overseen by Bouygues, the French nuclear group's subcontractor, was last week called into question.

Petteri Tiippana, assistant director of STUK, the Finnish nuclear safety authority, said that a government-commissioned inquiry into quality and safety allegations made by the environmental lobby group Greenpeace had found no evidence of transgressions.