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Lukashenka invites Japan to build nuclear power plant in Belarus

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has invited Japan to build a nuclear power plant in Belarus.

While accepting the credentials from Japanese Ambassador Chikahito Harada in Minsk on February 20, Mr. Lukashenka noted that "if you decide to build a nuclear power plant somewhere, Belarus must be the first on the list."

"You must build a nice, good nuclear power station in our country, and, in my opinion, the Japanese are capable of doing this not worse but rather much better than others who can do this," the government's news agency quoted Mr. Lukashenka as saying.

Mr. Lukashenka recalled last March's accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, but stressed that "this does not mean that no one needs peaceful atom."

A Russian contractor is about to begin building Belarus' first-ever nuclear power plant, which will be located in the Hrodna region. Belarus will take a loan of up to $10 billion from Russia to finance the project. //BelaPAN