Disassemble the EU: accidents and breakdowns at the Astravo nuclear power plant covered in misconceptions and fictitious facts

Since the start of construction of the Astrava nuclear power plant, there have been periodic reports of accidents and breakdowns. Belarusian authorities have repeatedly sidestepped requests for more information on accidents at the power plant and in December prevented international safety experts from visiting the plant.

In December, Debunk EU, together with the Foreign Ministry, examined 406 articles on the Astrava nuclear power plant, which appeared in the pro-Kremlin media in Russian and Lithuanian. In 148 of them, false information about Lithuania’s position regarding the power plant was found, according to a press release.

According to the head of Debunk EU. analyst Algirdas Kazlauskas, three waves of misinformation were observed during the investigation. The first, on 3 December, concerned information released by the Belarusian NGO Ecodom that data had been received from several different sources in the autumn on the cooling tank of the severely damaged first reactor.

“The Belarusian government has tried to hide this fact. The Ecodom report also states that, as a general rule, equipment should be replaced immediately after such accidents, but this would be clear evidence of the incident. That is why it was decided not to change the cooling system, but repair it ”, says the expert.

The Ministry of the Interior (MoI) recommendation to citizens to stockpile food and necessary items for at least three days to avoid hardship in the case of the Astrava nuclear power plant also received much attention. According to A. Kazlauskas, in the context of these events, the narrative is emphasized more in the Kremlin-friendly media: that Lithuania is panicking over the insecurity of the Astrava nuclear power plant and is unreasonably opposed.

“The recommendation of the Interior Ministry, which was interpreted by ironic and mocking Lithuania’s supposedly hysterical position on the Astrava nuclear power plant and the supposedly inappropriate comparison with the Chernobyl or Fukushima nuclear power plants, received a lot of attention”, says A. Kazlauskas .

According to him, the second narrative was interpreted in several different sections. First, an attempt was made to discredit the non-governmental organization that released the information about the accident, ironically that it allegedly received the information from the then future Lithuanian Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivis. “It has also been announced that the escalation of such incidents serves Lithuania’s aspirations to put pressure on its neighbors not to buy Belarusian electricity. Or to discredit the Alexander Lukashenko regime, which is currently in crisis. Or to try to prevent the LNG terminal in Klaipeda loses in the competitive fight against cheap electricity from the Astrava nuclear power plant ”, says the analyst.

The second wave of misinformation coincided with the then future Lithuanian government on December 7. policy plans for the Astravo nuclear power plant and BRELL (electricity grid connecting Belarus, Russia and the three Baltic states). The Russian media provided their own assessment of these plans.

“The articles use messages that Lithuania is unreasonably opposed to the Astrava nuclear power plant, interferes in the internal affairs of Belarus, provokes panic about the safety of the power plant and the Baltic states will still be forced to buy electricity from the nuclear power plant of Astrava “, says A .Kazlauskas. “It is true that it is worth mentioning that most of this information was disseminated on regional portals with a smaller audience.”

Some articles about Lithuania’s alleged failure to ensure energy security after the BRELL grid disconnection included a message that the NordBalt connection was unreliable due to repeated incidents. “The blackout in Riga last July was given as an example, but this incident had nothing to do with NordBalt, built between Klaipeda and the city of Nybro in Sweden,” says the expert.

Another jump in the false and misleading content was observed when in mid-month the visit of experts from the European Commission (EC) and the European Atomic Safety Supervision Group (ENSREG) to the Astrava nuclear power plant was announced because of Belarus. Along with the aforementioned narratives, there was a message that the European Union blockade of the Astrava nuclear power plant is politicized. The pro-Kremlin media have started to respond to the situation, saying that the Belarusian side did not understand why the visit was canceled and is willing to accept European representatives if they change their mind.

For example, on December 14. tass.ru In an article on the future mission of the ENSREG experts, it was mentioned, among other things, that the EC Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson, had acknowledged that Minsk cooperated with the EU and provided the necessary information on the safety of the Astravo nuclear power plant. There were no such statements in the Commissioner’s official speech or interview.

According to A. Kazlauskas, looking at the general flow of information about European countries and the flow of speeches about the Astravas nuclear power plant, it can be stated that Lithuania’s position receives special attention in the Kremlin-friendly media, and the representatives of the new government were misinformed before. take office.

According to the Debunk EU and MFA study, sputniknews.ru, sputniknews.lt Y rubaltic.ru published most of the articles with false / false information about Lithuania’s position on the Astrava nuclear power plant. Lenta.ru, rambler.ru Y ria.ru posts reached half of the total contact audience reached by false and misleading articles.

Debunk EU is an initiative that brings together the public, the media, and the state to combat fake news that confuses and undermines confidence in the country. The initiative has received attention and funding from Google, the world’s largest search engine, as well as media giants such as The Financial Times and Deutsche Welle. The organization has presented its activities in 17 countries, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Serbia.