Some electrical equipment already needs to be replaced.

A day after its delivery, the first Belarusian nuclear power plant was shut down. The facility, built by Roszatom and dubbed the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelAESZ), was inaugurated on Saturday by President Alexander Lukashenko, but was no longer producing electricity on Sunday because some of its electrical equipment failed. Oleg Sobolev, an employee of the Department of Nuclear and Radiological Safety of the Emergency Ministry, informed the AP news agency about this. He also announced that what happened did not pose a threat to either Belarus or neighboring Lithuania.

The ministry said in a statement Monday that it had been noticed during testing that some electrical devices needed to be replaced, but it was not known why it was necessary and how long it would take.

Lithuania has long opposed the construction of a nuclear power plant near Ostrovec, about 40 kilometers from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and considers it a security risk. According to the Lithuanian authorities, Minsk is disregarding international safety and environmental standards during the construction of the facility, which has led to repeated accidents during the works and accuses the neighboring country of not applying the recommendations of the stress test. of the EU. The contractor Roszatom rejected the criticisms and complaints, stating that the plans for the facility meet the highest international standards and were also approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Last Wednesday, the government of the Baltic country delivered a letter of protest to Belarus condemning the “irresponsible actions” of its neighbor. Vilnius has already announced an energy boycott before commissioning, according to which it will not buy electricity produced in BelAESZ. Latvia also joined the boycott.

Lithuania closed its only nuclear power plant after the Baltic country’s accession to the EU in 2004.

So let’s not be independent of the Russian atom: the Belarusian example

The case of the Belarusian nuclear power plant under construction on the Lithuanian border shows how difficult it is to get rid of dependence on Russian nuclear energy. Meanwhile, in addition to Russia, China is also increasing its influence in the European energy market.



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