IN VIENNA, LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AND THE IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL DISCUSSED ISSUES OF NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE REGION
On 11 January in Vienna, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis acquainted Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano with the progress in the Visaginas nuclear power plant project and reviewed the progress towards the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant.
During the conversation, the Foreign Minister also drew the attention of Y.Amano to Lithuania’s environmental and nuclear safety concerns relating to the nuclear power plant projects in neighboring Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region.
Minister A.Ažubalis informed Y.Amano that when speaking about the planned construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, Lithuania was particularly concerned about the intended location of the nuclear power plant in the Astraviec district, very close to Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania (less than 50 km away). The Foreign Minister said that the selection criteria for the construction site were not explained to Lithuania and the potential negative impacts of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on the River Neris and the health of the population were not sufficiently analyzed.
Head of Lithuania’s diplomacy also stated that Lithuania was concerned about Russia’s plans to build a nuclear power plant in the Kaliningrad region. According to Minister A.Ažubalis, Russia did not comply with international environmental conventions and started constructions in Kaliningrad without conducting an environmental impact assessment with neighboring countries.
Y.Amano paid a visit to Lithuania on 14-16 June 2010, where he met with the highest-ranking Lithuanian officials and got acquainted with the decommissioning process of the Ignalina nuclear power plant and the process of the implementation of the new Visaginas nuclear power plant project.
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