Finland's Industrial Electric Power company said Wednesday that workers found damage to the feed pump inside the No. 3 reactor of the Olkilo Otto nuclear Power plant during maintenance inspections, which could affect the reactor's plan to go "fully online" in December.  

The Finnish Industrial Power Company is the operator of the Olkiluotto 3 nuclear reactor.  The company said in a statement that the damage would not affect nuclear safety, but that it was "highly likely to affect" the reactor's continued test operation and the start-up of conventional power generation.  

The impact of the damage to the pumps on the reactor's "bring online" schedule is unclear, according to Siemens AG, an alliance of nuclear suppliers.  Finnish Industrial Power is actively contacting suppliers to facilitate the investigation.  

Construction of the Olkiluotto 3 reactor began in 2005 and was originally scheduled to begin operation in 2009.  Delivery of the reactor has been delayed by a number of technical problems.  The Industrial Power company previously said the reactor had started test operations and was scheduled to begin regular power production Dec. 14.  

Damage to the Olkiluotto 3 nuclear reactor has left Finland at risk of blackouts this winter, Reuters reported.  

After the situation in Ukraine escalated in February, Finland switched sides and sought to join NATO.  The Nordic subsidiary of Russia's Unified Power Import and Export company said in May that it would suspend electricity exports to Finland from May 14 due to "arrears in electricity charges."  

Finland's power grid company had warned that the country could suffer blackouts this winter if the Olkiluotto 3 nuclear reactor could not be connected to the grid in the face of power disruptions from Russia and a lack of wind power.  At one point in early September, Finland's electricity grid switched on two backup oil-fired power plants, Hutokoski and Forsa, to keep the lights on.