Lithuanian parliament endorses bill restricting electricity imports from Belarus NPP

21.04.201713:18

Lithuania’s Seimas has adopted a bill to restrict electricity imports from the Astravyets nuclear power plant under construction in Belarus and other unsafe nuclear facilities in third countries.

87 MPs voted for the law on taking measures to secure the country against threats posed by unsafe NPPs of third countries; there were no ‘contra’ votes, only one deputy abstained. The Belarusian NPP in Astravets may be considered ‘unsafe’, as its ‘construction and work does not comply with the requirements of environmental, nuclear, radiation safety, international agreements and conventions are violated and it poses a threat to Lithuania’s national security, environment and public health due to its geographical location and technological features’, delfi.lt reports.

The law presumes that the electricity from ‘unsafe’ plants will enter the Lithuanian market only if it is necessary to ensure the functioning of the country’s energy system. In turn, the Belarusian authorities are not hiding their desire to sell electricity surplus to the European Union.

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 not to 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.