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Video: Scientists come out against construction of nuclear power plant in Belarus

A group of prominent Belarusian scientists have decided to found a movement for a nuclear free Belarus.

As Professor Heorhiy Lepin, an initiator of the movement who holds a doctor’s degree in engineering sciences, said in an interview with BelaPAN, nine years ago, the head of the Belarusian government set up a special commission that concluded that it would be expedient to start any nuclear power engineering work at least in the next 10 years. According to Dr. Lepin, the Cabinet of Ministers then adopted a moratorium that expires only on January 14, 2009. Despite this, preparations for the construction of a nuclear power plant are in full swing in the country, he said.

“We used to believe that a nuclear plant was dangerous only in the event of an accident,” he said. “But this is wrong. Nuclear power plants permanently emit a significant amount of radioactive isotopes into the air. Within 15 years, all nuclear power plants in the world emit more radioactive isotopes than was released in the Chernobyl accident.”