Vilnius hands note of protest to Minsk over Belarus NNP

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry handed Minsk a note of protest after Belarus started commissioning the second power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and increased its capacity.

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said in a note that Belarus has not fulfilled the recommendations of experts of the European Group of Nuclear Safety Regulators on stress tests and has not provided the information necessary for a more accurate assessment of the potential impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on Lithuania, European Pravda reports citing BNS agency.

These include earthquake risks, the location of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel storage facilities in Belarus, as well as possible environmental problems associated with the use of water from the Neris River to cool the reactors of the Belarusian NPP.

Vilnius urged Minsk not to commission the second power unit of the NPP until the safety problems are resolved and to transparently inform about the real situation at the plant and related incidents.

The second reactor of the Belarusian NPP was launched at the end of 2022, and in April its capacity was increased from the lowest controlled level (1 per cent) to 40 per cent of its nominal capacity. In May, the power increase to 50 per cent was officially announced.

On July 13, the website of Belarusian NPP announced that the capacity of power unit No. 2 had been increased to 100 per cent. Commercial operation of the power unit in Minsk was planned to start in October this year.

The first nuclear power plant, built in Belarus near Lithuania, will have two reactors of the same capacity - almost 1.2 gigawatts each - of the Russian VVER design. Its construction was criticised by both Lithuania and international experts due to serious irregularities.