"Our executive committee has been given permission to announce a strike notice if we don't solve the problem" in negotiations on Monday with representatives of electric company TVO, deputy union chief Kyoesti Suokas told AFP.

The Finnish Construction Trade Union, which has about 80,000 members, sent two representatives to the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor building site on October 25, but they were turned away because they had not received prior permission to visit the site.

"They insist that our officers cannot visit the site without permission of the building companies. It's the first time ever. We have always had completely free access on building sites," Suokas said.

"This is very important because our union is the only organization able to supervise that (labor) agreements are fulfilled," he added.

TVO officials were unavailable for comment on Friday.

Several hundred construction workers, technicians and engineers from 20 different countries are building a pressurized water reactor under the direction of French nuclear energy group Areva and German engineering giant Siemens.

The construction site itself is managed by the French group Bouygues.

The 1600 megawatt, third-generation reactor is expected to become operational in 2009, at an estimated cost of three billion euros (3.64 billion dollars).

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

Going against prevailing attitudes in many European countries, the Finnish parliament approved the construction of the nuclear reaction in 2002 on the basis that it would help reduce pollution and ensure energy independence in the Nordic country.

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