Lithuania petitions to IAEA in attempt to prevent Belarus’ NPP launch
<p> MINSK, May 11 - PrimePress. Lithuania petitioned to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying that the launch of the Belarusian NPP (BelAES, Ostrovets district, Grodno region) is inadmissible. Minister of Energy of Lithuania Žygimantas Vaičiūnas sent a letter to IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi asking for intervention after nuclear fuel was delivered to the Belarusian NPP last week. </p> <p> </p> <p> “Belarus has not yet signed a bilateral agreement on early warning of a nuclear accident. This situation cannot be an acceptable practice that could be tolerated, since this threatens safety of states and people,” Delfi quotes the statement by Vaičiūnas. </p> <p> </p> <p> The minister emphasizes that several IAEA missions worked in Belarus, but neither their reports nor reports on compliance with their recommendations have been made public, and Minsk’s refusal to publish these reports impedes a transparent assessment of missions’ findings. </p> <p> </p> <p> According to Vaičiūnas, credibility of the IAEA and nuclear energy in general now solely depends on actions of the Agency and Belarus’ response. </p> <p> </p> <p> The Ministry of Energy of Belarus announced on May 6 that fuel had been delivered for the first reactor of the NPP. Lithuania called on to stop the launch of the plant, which is located 50 km from Vilnius, as it is being built without observing safety requirements. Lithuania will not procure Belarus’ electric energy, and would make efforts to block supplies of energy to be generated by the Belarusian NPP to the European Union. Lithuania has been complaining about the safety of the NPP since the project inception. The Lithuanian parliament ruled that the power plant poses a threat to its national security. </p> <p> </p> <p> Minister of Energy of Belarus Viktor Karankevich said that the reactor of the first power unit would be put into operation in July 2020, and energy would be supplied to the national grid from September or October 2020. </p> <p> </p> <p> Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Region also referred to as Astravyets) will have two units with a combined capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts, which are slated to be launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Belarusian nuclear station’s design stems from the AES-2006 design developed by the St Petersburg-based institute Atomenergoproject, which is also the general contractor of the Belarusian project. End </p>
2020-05-12
Primepress
Lithuania petitions to IAEA in attempt to prevent Belarus’ NPP launch
MINSK, May 11 - PrimePress. Lithuania petitioned to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying that the launch of the Belarusian NPP (BelAES, Ostrovets district, Grodno region) is inadmissible. Minister of Energy of Lithuania Žygimantas Vaičiūnas sent a letter to IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi asking for intervention after nuclear fuel was delivered to the Belarusian NPP last week.
“Belarus has not yet signed a bilateral agreement on early warning of a nuclear accident. This situation cannot be an acceptable practice that could be tolerated, since this threatens safety of states and people,” Delfi quotes the statement by Vaičiūnas.
The minister emphasizes that several IAEA missions worked in Belarus, but neither their reports nor reports on compliance with their recommendations have been made public, and Minsk’s refusal to publish these reports impedes a transparent assessment of missions’ findings.
According to Vaičiūnas, credibility of the IAEA and nuclear energy in general now solely depends on actions of the Agency and Belarus’ response.
The Ministry of Energy of Belarus announced on May 6 that fuel had been delivered for the first reactor of the NPP. Lithuania called on to stop the launch of the plant, which is located 50 km from Vilnius, as it is being built without observing safety requirements. Lithuania will not procure Belarus’ electric energy, and would make efforts to block supplies of energy to be generated by the Belarusian NPP to the European Union. Lithuania has been complaining about the safety of the NPP since the project inception. The Lithuanian parliament ruled that the power plant poses a threat to its national security.
Minister of Energy of Belarus Viktor Karankevich said that the reactor of the first power unit would be put into operation in July 2020, and energy would be supplied to the national grid from September or October 2020.
Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Region also referred to as Astravyets) will have two units with a combined capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts, which are slated to be launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Belarusian nuclear station’s design stems from the AES-2006 design developed by the St Petersburg-based institute Atomenergoproject, which is also the general contractor of the Belarusian project. End