Belarus answers all Lithuania’s questions on NPP in line with Espoo Convention

Belarus has answered all Lithuania’s questions regarding the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, as is stipulated by Europe’s Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention), First Deputy Premier of Belarus Vladimir Semashko said at a plenary session of the 18th Belarusian Energy and Ecology Congress on 16 October, BelTA has learnt.

Vladimir Semashko emphasized that Belarus did everything it was supposed to do and even more: “We held all the possible approval procedures and public debates. For the last time we invited representatives of the Lithuanian public to Belarus and answered all their questions. We submitted all the necessary information to Lithuania and this was done on the official level, but still Lithuania says that it is not happy”. The First Vice-Premier underlined that it is in Belarus’ interests to make sure that the Belarusian NPP will be as safe as possible: “Our country suffered a lot from the Chernobyl disaster and we are interested in the utmost safety and reliability of our nuclear power plant, therefore we chose the Russian design which is considered to be the most reliable as of today”.

Vladimir Semashko reminded that representatives of the IAEA visited Belarus many times after it had declared its intensions to construct its own NPP. Vladimir Semashko emphasized that the IAEA missions confirmed that Belarus fulfills all the agency’s recommendations in full.

“The implementation of the Belarusian nuclear project is in full swing, even ahead of the schedule. The preparation period is nearing completion, so we will soon get down to the major construction phase,” the First Vice-Premier said. He emphasized that the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant was prompted by the need to reduce Belarus’ dependence on one energy source – natural gas – and is a way to diversify energy sources to enhance the energy security of the country.