Lithuania sent a note to Belarus on Tuesday strongly condemning Minsk’s plans to start generating electricity at the Astravyec nuclear power plant (NPP) near the country’s borders in early November, which Lithuania considers unsafe.
The document emphasizes that Lithuania and the entire European Union (EU) call on Belarus to meet the highest safety and environmental protection requirements for this power plant as soon as possible and to follow the recommendations of the EU stress tests, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“Lithuania strongly opposes such haste [AES] “On Tuesday, after the meeting of Lithuanian President Gitan Nauseda with several government ministers, his adviser Asta Skaisgirīte said.
According to the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid on Monday, it has received information from the Belarusian energy group Belenergo that electricity production could start at the neighboring nuclear power plant between November 1 and 10.
Lithuania believes that Belarus has not complied with safety requirements by building a power plant about 30 kilometers from the Lithuanian border and 50 kilometers from Vilnius, but Minsk denies the allegations.
Lithuania has passed a law banning electricity from the nuclear power plant from its market and has called on neighboring countries to boycott it.
On 20 August, Belarus announced that the loading of nuclear fuel into the first reactor at the Astravyez NPP had been completed, but on 11 October it announced that a controlled chain reaction had been launched and research would be carried out in the near future to verify the safety of the control system and nuclear safety. energy start-up of the first power unit with connection to the state power system.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has previously said it could happen on November 7.
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