Lithuania reserved about Minsk promises to provide results of Astravets NPP stress tests
The Lithuanian government is reserved about Minsk’s promises to provide the results of Astravets NPP stress tests to the European Commission.
“They have been promising to carry these stress tests for six years! The promises are still in the air, they make new promises before meetings of the Espoo Convention Committee, so one needs to take them with reserve. Of course, we demand it should be done in accordance with the EU methodology. Let’s see whether it will be done. However, I want to emphasize that there is not the only one request or requirement, “Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said on Wednesday.
According to him, Lithuania does not approve of Belarus’ choice of the site for the construction.
In turn, Vdeputy Minister Simonas Šatūnas says that stress tests do not solve vital safety problems.
“Lithuania’s position on the so-called stress tests remains the same – they have to be carried out in full, European methods should be applied. However, at the same time, we note that this does not solve the essential problem, i.e. the construction site and the choice of the site, because it was not selected properly, but in violation of international standards.”
The Belarusian side has promised to present a report about stress tests in adverse conditions at the Belarusian NPP to the European Commission in October. Minsk states that the tests were carried out in December.
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The Lithuanian side has repeatedly criticized the construction of the nuclear power plant 50 kilometers from Vilnius and encouraged the rest of the countries of the United Europe to not buy electricity from the future NPP.
Lithuania is not only concerned about the proximity of the station to Vilnius, but also with a number of emergencies during the NPP construction. Among the emergencies are a reactor vessel accident, when it fell during the transportation, the collapse of the concrete structure at the site between the reactors. Our channel was the first to report on the incident. Before the official request of the Lithuanian side, representatives of the Belarusian NPP denied this information.
