nuclear-news

It’s Belarus’ first nuclear plant and comes 34 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine caused havoc in the south of the country.

While France has dozens of nuclear reactors, many countries, including Germany, have pledged to phase theirs out. The amount of electricity generated by nuclear in the EU dropped from around 45% in 2006 to 28% in 2018.

For Belarus, it’s a source of pride. The 2.4-GW power plant — built with Russian money and supervision — will lessen that nation’s dependence on Moscow for energy.

Ostrovets Unit 1 reactor is expected to go online in July, while the near-identical Ostrovets 2 is set for a sign-off in the fall.

But, since the outset of the project in 2011, Lithuania has been vehemently against it. Vilnius claims it is a geopolitical scheme spearheaded by Russia to keep Lithuania quiet and keep Belarus on a tighter lead.

“The plant is being built in breach of safety standards, including the UN’s Espoo and Aarhus conventions,” Arvydas Sekmokas, Lithuania’s former energy minister, told Euronews.

“Minsk has disregarded International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommendations made after the Fukushima disaster that plants should not be built within 100 kilometres of major population centres.

“I still believe that we still can halt the project. Otherwise, not only Lithuania but all of Europe can pay a heavy price for it.

“The world knows very well the praise-worthy stories of Austria and Sweden, which shut down their nuclear plants after they were already built.”

Lithuania has held drills to prepare for a nuclear emergency. Vilnius, with a population of more than half a million people, would have to be evacuated in the worst-case scenario of an accident at Ostrovets………

https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/21/belarus-nuclear-plant-minsk-set-to-fire-up-reactor-just-45km-from-vilnius