The Most Beautiful Nuclear Power Plants in Europe - Lasse Lecklin, Finland, Shortlist

he Most Beautiful Nuclear Power Plants in Europe is a photographic series that examines power stations in landscape from an aesthetic point of view. The main standpoint of this project is the relationship between human and nature, and the style is based on repetition. The contrast between the beautiful sceneries and the pompous absurdity of the power plant architecture rising from the landscape creates some visible tension in the images, not to mention industrial romanticism. Due to the risks, the power plants are not built in direct contact with large centres of population but within a “compromise distance”. However, in densely populated Western and Central Europe this means that the stations are located on an inhabited and farmed rural area. Due to the need for water, these are most often scenic and idyllic places. The prevention of climate change forces us to search for new ways of producing energy with as little carbon dioxide emissions as possible. In Finland the third reactor of Olkiluoto nuclear power plant is under construction and there are intentions of constructing a new station in Pyhäjoki. Germany, for instance, has decided to end the use of nuclear power by the year 2022. The Finnish policy is the opposite.