Dalia Grybauskaitė: Security of the Astravets nuclear power plant – concern for the whole EU

The President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the EU’s energy union.

“We all remember the Chernobyl tragedy. Unsafe nuclear power plants that do not conform to international standards are a threat to all the people of Europe. Therefore, we must demand, through the concerted efforts of the EU and the whole international community, that the Astravets power plant complies with the highest international security standards, that a transparent and independent environmental impact assessment is made and that risk and safety assessments are carried out,” the President said.

Lithuania is concerned about Belarus’ statements that the Astravets nuclear power plant will be the cheapest nuclear power plant built in the world. Construction works of the nuclear power plant are carried out hastily and without observing any quality standards. Risk and safety assessments to determine whether the nuclear power plant can function safely under the most unfavorable conditions have not been carried out so far. The environmental impact assessment of the power plant has been conducted in a non-transparent manner and does not meet the requirements provided for in the Espoo Convention. The ministerial conference of the UN Aarhus Convention has also recognized the violations. Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are not allowed to carry out an independent assessment of the site of the Astravets nuclear power plant.

According to the President, the EU must assess very seriously the possibilities of limiting imports of electricity generated at the Astravets nuclear power plant to the EU market and the relevant instruments. The Astravets nuclear power plant must neither create any additional obstacles to the production of electricity within a country nor to the goals of improving energy efficiency or synchronizing the Baltic electricity grids with continental Europe.