Lukashenko: Belarus is under pressure to build a nuclear power plant

“We are applying the energy of a peaceful atom to our first nuclear power plant. That is one of the reasons we are under pressure. It is possible to plan in Poland (the Americans will build a new power plant for them) and we cannot. Finland you can build nuclear reactors, but we can’t, “Lukashenko told the Belarusian Academy of Sciences on Friday.

He is quoted by the state news agency BelTA.

“There are nuclear power plants around Belarus (various sites in Russia and Ukraine each), but the country is still under pressure to build a nuclear power plant,” he said.

Mr. Lukashenko has stated that the nuclear power plant is a guarantee of the economic security and independence of Belarus.

“Without me or with me, you will understand what a nuclear power plant is. It is not just a great achievement and cheap energy. It is the greatest security of our country, (…) it is a great advance, a part of our independence ”, he emphasized.

Lithuania is the most active critic of the Astravas nuclear power plant project and emphasizes the need to comply with safety requirements. Minsk rejects these Vilnius accusations. Meanwhile, the three Baltic states are approaching the final harmonization of the technical steps required for a solidarity boycott of the Astravas nuclear power plant.

Hydraulic tests of the first reactor at the Astrava power plant began this week, which, according to the Belarusian Ministry of Energy, will start generating electricity in November.

The first nuclear power plant in Belarus near the Lithuanian state border is being built by the Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosatom, and the project is financed by a Russian state loan. The plant will have two reactors from the Russian VVER project, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts.

The second reactor is expected to come online approximately one year after the first reactor is commissioned.