BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/01/2007

Nuclear power looms 21 years after Chernobyl

Belarus, hardest hit by the Chernobyl nuclear accident that released 400 times the radiation of the Hiroshima bomb, will expedite its nuclear power program as President Alexander Lukashenko seeks alternatives to Russian fuel.

Lukashenko demanded the country's top officials work without pause to offset the $3.5 billion (U.S.) Belarus will lose this year in energy subsidies from neighbouring Russia. Alternative power and energy efficiency will be key to plugging the gap, Lukashenko said on a visit to OAO Naftan, the country's biggest oil refinery.

"There's no time for a warm-up," Lukashenko said.

Source:

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/175094