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EUROPE: BALTIC STATES PLAN NUCLEAR EXPANSION (May 29,
Inter Press Service) by Giedrius Blagnys VILNIUS (IPS) - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are starting preparations for building a new nuclear reactor to replace existing 'Chernobyl type' reactors at the Ignalina nuclear power plant. Following a political agreement signed by the prime ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in February, energy companies of the three Baltic States are starting a feasibility study for the building of a new nuclear facility. "The study is due to be completed in October this year," Aurelija Trakseliene from the Lithuanian Power Company (LPC) told IPS.. The design of a new nuclear facility would take approximately four years. The new reactor would be built at the existing Ignalina plant in Lithuania, and would cost approximately 3 billion euros (3.8 billion dollars). Within the framework of its membership of the European Union (EU), Lithuania shut down the first Ignalina reactor at the end of 2004, with the second scheduled to be closed in late 2009. Built more than 20 years ago, the two Soviet reactors with a generation capacity of 1500 MW each are considered unsafe. The European Union (EU) has approved a grant of 865 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) for decommissioning the Ignalina plant. Some of that money has been used to shut down the first reactor. Besides loss of power generation, closure of the first reactor cut deeply into Lithuania's EU emissions allowance reserve. Lithuania's reserve for 2005- 2007 is 1.8 million units, but about twice that will be needed if electricity is to be produced by fossil fuel. Baltic states have no means of importing electricity from the EU because of a lack of power links. The European Commission has described the Baltics region as an "energy island". Lithuania now wants to link its energy grid to Poland's to get hooked to the European network. "The bridge is not only important for the development of the Lithuanian economy, but has international importance as it is related to the country's energy independence and political independence as well," Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said. But talks to build a power bridge with Poland are deadlocked "mainly because of finances," Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in a statement. He stressed that the power disconnect was not for political reasons. The energy grids of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are currently connected to the network in Russia and Belarus. "It is clear that from 2015 all the Baltic states will face a shortage of energy, and one of the ways to solve the problem is a new nuclear plant," Lithuanian economy minister Kestutis Dauksys told reporters. Lithuania expects that a new nuclear facility will resolve the problem of electricity shortage, and reduce the dependence of the Baltic states on Russian fossil fuel. "One of our aims is to diversify our sources of energy," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said. "This is why we are interested in building a new nuclear power station at Ignalina." But people living in the region are not as enthusiastic about a new nuclear plant as their leaders. According to a poll carried out for the European Commission in November 2005, only about 21 percent of the population of Lithuania (3.5 million) support the development of a nuclear power. And only 8 percent of people in Latvia and Estonia want nuclear energy. "To build the new nuclear power plant is a political decision, not an economical or technical one," Dr. Jurgis Vilemas, chair of the Council of the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI) told IPS. "The urgent construction of the new reactor is difficult to explain in terms of economic arguments." Vilemas said that existing fossil fuel based power plants could be modernised and developed further.. "In the medium term, Lithuania should look for an alternative to Russian sources of fossil fuels, should invest in construction of large gas storages as well as in development of efficiency of existing power generation capacities. In the long term, depending on the situation, Baltic states might plan to build a low capacity nuclear power plant." Vilemas added: "We feel disquiet over the aggressive lobbyism of some manufacturers of nuclear reactors. Baltic states should be very careful in planning capacities of the new power plant, because economic calculations presented by those manufacturers are based on outdated economic models and data. It is very complicated to forecast costs and benefits of such a project in the time horizon of 10-15 years." http://www.nuclearinfo.ro Va e mai usor sa unsubscribeti de pe acest grup decat sa scapati de efectele unui prost management in domeniul nuclear!:-) Pentru legislatie si alte informatii utile, vizitati site-ul
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