BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/10/2007

Belarus requests help on first reactor

MINSK (Kyodo) Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed hope Thursday that Japanese industry will cooperate from the planning stage in the construction of Belarus' first nuclear reactor.

"Japan has the most advanced technology in this field," he said in an interview.

Belarus suffered major damage from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in neighboring Ukraine when the countries were part of the former Soviet Union, and Lukashenko admitted the Belarus people have concerns about constructing a reactor.

But he added that building a reactor is necessary because Belarus depends for its natural gas and other energy resources on Russia and has to secure more diverse sources of energy.

Source:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nb20071020a9.html