Lithuania asks Belarus to suspend nuclear plant construction

Vilnius suggests that Belarus stops the construction until International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) tests are in.

“We suggested that the Belarusian side stops the construction until IAEA stress tests are introduced. (…) We realize it’s a hard question, but we hope that the Belarusian side lends an ear to our demands,” stated Vitalius Auglis, the head of the department in the Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment.

On June 21-22 Vilnius hosted the consultations of the Belarusian and Lithuanian experts on assessing the impact of the NPP on the environment, on changing alternatives of construction sites and information openness, Delfi writes.

Belarus’ representatives have provided a lot of information that doesn’t correspond to the one received earlier, since the construction of the power station started simultaneously with the assessment process and design planning.

Belarus’ and Lithuania’s representatives discussed the contradictions after the Committee on implementation of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (the Espoo Convention) suggested that the two states report on coordination of stances on Astravets NPP.

Let us recall that over the last month Belarusian NPP suffered two accidents. On June 8 the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has presented Belarus with the note concerning the possible incident at the Belarusian nuclear power plant.