Just over 30 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which saw Belarus lose a quarter of its territory due to nuclear contamination, the former Soviet republic is set to see its first nuclear power station enter operation in one and a half year’s time from now.
The location in the Belarusian town of Astravets – a mere 50 kilometres from Lithuania’s capital Vilnius – is understandably giving its neighbour the jitters. To make matters worse, the construction of the plant has been mired by a series of mishaps and incidents, sparking major concerns over the safety of the installation.
With Belarusian authorities not budging and full inspections remaining elusive, the Lithuanian government has resorted to taking active steps to protect the country against the plant writes Sijbren de Jong in his latest column for EUObserver.
The article was also highlighted by ‘The Morning Vertical’, Radio Free Europe’s daily Russia brief.
The column was also featured by Dutch website ‘Raam op Rusland’, a news platform dedicated to analyses on relations with Russia and its neighboring countries.
A Polish language version of the article appeared on news website BiznesAlert.
Photo: the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 sent radioactive material across all of Europe
Credit: AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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