BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/04/2008

Belarus: nuclear spring

The poisonous legacy of the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown still scars life in Belarus, which received 70% of the fallout. Physical disorders such as deformed limbs, weak hearts, and cataracts are commonplace.

This year, as every year, the opposition holds a march on the anniversary of Chernobyl, protesting the lack of government support for those with health problems, particularly cleanup workers who decontaminated the zone.

Yet the protests this Saturday have extra resonance.

Policy shift

Belarus, which has never had a nuclear reactor on its own soil, is hoping to choose a location for its first plant by the end of this month. This marks a major change in policy-making for Belarus, a country surrounded by nuclear plants in neighbouring countries.

It is not just the ethics of a nuclear policy that trouble the protesters; the policy's economics also look dubious. Questions remain over the timetable of the project, as well as the supplier of the necessary equipment.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said last October that work on the station would begin in 2008 and that it would take four to eight years before the first 1,000-megawatt reactor came on line.

Minsk is in a hurry: Belarus imports 85% of its energy needs and relies on Russia, which may face its own shortages and is charging higher prices. Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear plant, which supplies Belarus as well as the Baltic States, will also be shuttered in 2009.

Russian dependence

Several opposition leaders support the notion of a nuclear power station but are critical of the fact that it will lead to more, not less, energy dependency on Moscow.

If Minsk abandons its policy of rejecting nuclear energy, it will be ignoring the serious problems involved, including waste disposal and a lack of uranium deposits or enrichment facilities. Belarus could go from dependence on Russian gas to dependence on Russian uranium.

Source:

http://www.oxan.com/worldnextweek/2008-04-24/Belarusnuclearspring.aspx

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