Lithuania plans EU talks to delay Soviet-era reactor closure

CIVIL NUCLEAR

by Staff Writers
Vilnius (AFP) July 11, 2008
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said Friday he was planning talks with fellow EU leaders, as Vilnius pushes to delay the closure of an aging Chernobyl-type nuclear plant which provides the bulk of its power.

Adamkus told reporters he would meet with other top officials from the rest of the 27-nation European Union "in the near future".

"We're not asking for talks, or for the opening of negotiations with the European Commission, but for a chance to explain Lithuania's economic situation," he said.

When it joined the EU in 2004, 13 years after breaking free from the crumbling Soviet Union, Vilnius pledged to shut down its communist-era nuclear plant at Ignalina, in eastern Lithuania, by the end of 2009.

But it is seeking EU approval for a delay.

Lithuania fears that closure before a replacement plant has been built will cause major power shortages -- Ignalina provides around three-quarters of its electricity -- and leave it totally dependent on energy supplies from its communist-era master Russia.

Lithuania is in talks with neighbouring Latvia, Estonia and Poland on building a new plant at Ignalina.

That plant is meant to come on stream by 2015, although some experts suggest 2017-2020 is more realistic.

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CIVIL NUCLEAR

Nuclear accident exercise in Mexico a 'success', IAEA says

Vienna (AFP) July 11, 2008
The nuclear accident response exercise conducted at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant in Mexico this week was a "success", the UN's atomic watchdog said Friday.

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