Greenpeace said the Finnish government had given the go-ahead for the facility despite what the ecological organisation said were insufficient safety guarantees.

The move came as representatives of the French-German Areva-Siemens consortium building the pressurized water reactor attended on Monday a symbolic foundation-laying ceremony at the Olkiluoto plant in Pori in southwestern Finland.

Outside the site a hundred or so Greenpeace and other activists protested against the project.

Greenpeace said it would file its complaint by the end of September with the Chancellery of Justice, which is tasked with examining the legality of the government's actions. The complaint will target the trade and industry ministry and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK).

Greenpeace argued that STUK's evaluation process for the project was far too short, taking just 13 months, and said safety, public health and environmental issues were not adequately analyzed.

It claimed that a number of safety issues it had identified, including potential leaks, accidents and terrorist attacks, had yet to be addressed by

The 1600 megawatt reactor is expected to become operational in 2009, at an estimated cost of three billion euros (3.72 billion dollars).

It will supplement Finland's four existing nuclear reactors which were built in the 1970s.

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