BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
11/03/2008
Belarusian Physicists Object To Planned Nuclear Power Plant
Several prominent Belarusian nuclear physicists have urged the authorities to abandon their plans for the construction of a nuclear power plant, Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported on March 10. The physicists said at a March 9 meeting that the construction of a nuclear power plant is not an "unavoidable necessity" for Belarus, and that the country does not meet the economic and technical conditions for its construction. Yahor Fyadzyushkin, the head of the Institute of Humanitarian and Environmental Technologies of the Minsk-based International Academy of Information Technology, said that "the idea of building a nuclear power plant in Belarus could bring about a lot of trouble and difficult ordeals, which the authorities seem to be ready to put on the shoulders of the people." "Under no circumstances would we agree that it is feasible to build the plant in Belarus," he said. "Since the dispute about whether or not a nuclear power plant should be built began, nobody has ever offered any distinct data in favor of the nuclear power industry," Fyadzyushkin said. The Belarusian Security Council in mid-January made "an ultimate political decision" regarding the construction of a nuclear power plant. The government intends to put the first unit of the 2,000-megawatt plant into operation in 2016, and launch the second one in 2018. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-110308.asp
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