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Belarus' nuclear project discussed at meeting in Lithuanian parliament

Belarusian environmental campaigners and political activists held a meeting at Lithuania’s Seimas (parliament) in Vilnius on Wednesday to discuss the Belarusian authorities’ plans to build a nuclear power plant in the vicinity of the Baltic state's border.

Among those in attendance was Belarus` first formal head of state, Stanislaw Shushkevich, who said that he backed the project on condition that the used nuclear fuel would not be reprocessed for military purposes, Alyaksandr Valchanin, chairman of the Chernobyl Union of Belarus, who also took part in the event told BelaPAN.

Expert Yury Varanezhtsaw, who led a commission in the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to investigate the cause of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, flatly opposed the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country. He warned that in the event of an accident, the Lithuania capital city of Vilnius would have to be evacuated. He suggested that the authorities should concentrate efforts on the development of alternative energy sources.

Mr. Valchanin said that he expressed concern in his speech about the abolition last year of “social guarantees” to those who took part in the cleanup work following the Chernobyl nuclear accident, known as liquidators. He said that he had also asked Lithuanian MPs to help register an association of Belarusian liquidators in Lithuania.

In a resolution adopted as a result of the meeting, the gathering called on Russia to deny financial assistance for the Belarusian nuclear project, according to Mr. Valchanin.