“It seems to be as ordinary as when the subway is built. But it is a historic moment – the country is becoming a nuclear power,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the state news agency BelTA. The power plant is located near the town of Astravec, almost 50 kilometers from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
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Belarus began dropping electricity from the plant earlier this week, forcing Lithuania to stop importing electricity from Belarus. Latvia announced on Thursday that it had resumed electricity imports from Russia to the Baltic states, which had been suspended due to fears that it could also include electricity produced at a new Belarusian power plant.
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The construction of the power plant also divides Belarus, which was hit hard by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Belarusian opposition leader Andrei Sannikov wrote on Twitter that the power plant is a “geopolitical weapon” for Lukashenko and the Kremlin against the European Union and a “radioactive threat to Belarus and Europe”.
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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich at the grand opening of the power plant
Photo: Reuters
As early as Friday, Lukashenko said at the grand opening of the third line of the Minsk metro that Belarus needed another nuclear power plant if it wanted to get rid of its energy dependence on coal, oil or gas. According to him, the launch of the first nuclear power plant “is lucky, it’s a gift”.
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The power plant has two reactors, each with an output of 1200 megawatts. The second reactor should be connected to the grid in 2022. Part of the equipment was supplied by Czech companies, including fittings, pumps and piping.
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The start of the power plant comes at a time when Belarus is being shaken by massive protests and strikes. These sparked presidential elections in early August, which the opposition considers rigged. Lukashenko, in power since 1994, denies the allegations, as do opposition calls for resignation.
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