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Lithuanian Lawmaker Approve New Nuclear Power Plant
Vilnius (AFP) Jun 29, 2007 The Lithuanian parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly backed the construction of a new nuclear power station to replace the Baltic country's ageing Chernobyl-type Ignalina plant. Some 107 lawmakers in the 141-seat parliament passed legislation approving what is seen as a key means to reduce the region's reliance on energy supplies from Russia. "This is a major step towards our energy independence and closer cooperation between the Baltic states and Poland," Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said after the vote. "This step also means that Lithuania retains a nuclear energy competence and remains a high-technology country," he said. The law provides for the creation of a "national investor" company, which will bring together two Lithuanian state-owned and one private energy companies. The Lithuanian state is to hold no less than 51 percent stake in that three-way company, which will in turn become part of a consortium which will also include the energy companies of its fellow Baltic states of Latvian and Estonia, and neighbouring Poland. Lithuania aims to have a 34-percent stake in the consortium. The new nuclear power plant is expected to start operations in 2015. Preliminary forecasts have found that constructing the 800-1,6000 megawatt facility could cost 2.4-4.0 billion euros (3.2-5.4 billion dollars). Lithuania's existing Soviet-era nuclear power plant at Ignalina, near the border with Belarus, is similar to the reactor which caused the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. It is due to be shut down by 2010, under a pledge Lithuania made during its talks on membership of the European Union, which it joined in 2004. The Baltic states, which were part of the Soviet Union until 1991, are still linked to the Russian power grid and, like ex-communist Poland, see the new nuclear power plant as one way to lessen their dependence on Russian energy supplies. The prime ministers of the Baltic states and Poland are due to mark a key political step in the nuclear project next week, when they are due to sign a joint declaration in Vilnius.
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Fire At German Nuclear Plant But No Radiation Leak
Berlin (AFP) Jun 28, 2007Fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in northern Germany Thursday but was isolated from the atomic reactor, police said. The blaze began at the Kruemmel power plant in Geesthacht, 30 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of Hamburg on the Elbe river, when coolant in a large electric power transformation substation ignited. It was extinguished about 90 minutes later. |
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