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Campaigners in Baltic Sea region collecting signatures for petition against Belarusian nuclear project

Environmental campaigners based in the Baltic Sea region have launched a signature-collection campaign against the Belarusian authorities’ plans to build a nuclear power plant in the Astravets district near the Lithuanian border, BelaPAN reports.

The open letter of protest was compiled and approved at a meeting that was held in Stockholm between August 10 and 12. Taking part were Sweden’s Baltic Sea Region Radioactivity Watch, the Swedish FMKK anti-nuclear group and a Belarusian-based group named Scientists for Nuclear-free Belarus, among other organizations.

In the petition, the activists express concern that the Belarusian nuclear power plant will radioactively contaminate the River Viliya that runs nearby the site and flows into the Baltic Sea.

An increase in radiation exposure in Belarus hit severely by the Chernobyl nuclear accident is also unacceptable, they say.

The nuclear project approved by the Belarusian authorities is strongly criticized by Belarusian and Russian experts who have carried out an assessment of its environmental impact, as well by scientists based in Lithuania and Austria, they say.

The activists call on the Belarusian authorities to abandon their nuclear plans.