Belarusian Eco-Activist: Only Lukashenka and Russia Need BelNPP

• 10.11.2020, 16:57

The Astravets station was launched without a license.

The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP) temporarily suspended electricity production on Tuesday, November 10, although it was connected to the country's power grid only a few days ago. Lukashenka was present at the ceremony on November 7.

Tatstsiana Novikava, expert of the Ecodom public association and coordinator of the Belarusian anti-nuclear campaign, shared with Deutsche Welle her opinion on who benefits from the construction of the BelNPP, why the plant poses a threat to the environment, and why Lithuania decided to refuse any electricity supplies from Belarus.

- Despite the protest actions of activists and environmentalists, the BelNPP was opened in Belarus near Astravets on November 7. Lukashenka called it a historical moment, saying that Belarus is becoming a nuclear satate. What do you think about it?

- I treat this as nonsense. A lot of time elapses from the moment of power start-up to the moment the NPP is put into operation - from ten months, as in Russia, to one year, as in the USA. When the reactor is completely new, and the fuel has never worked, it is loaded into the reactor, thermal and hydraulic experiments are carried out. Then the fuel is irradiated: it starts to work first at the minimum level. Then they begin to increase it, and somewhere at the level of 25-50%, the reactor plant is connected to devices that generate electricity.

This is exactly what happened now. There is nothing that could qualify as the acquisition of a nuclear state's status by Belarus or as the official opening of a nuclear power plant. The Ministry of Energy said that the start-up took place, but the NPP will be put into operation at the end of the first quarter of 2021. This means that only then will the nuclear power plant be able to supply electricity to the grid regularly.

For Lukashenka, this object has exclusively political significance. This (ceremony on November 7 - ed.) is done solely in order to reduce the degree of public attention to this topic so that it is perceived as a given - now, the station has already been built and put into operation, now you need to live with it.

- You have been opposing the BelNPP for more than ten years. In your opinion, what is its main problem?

- The main problem is that this facility has no economic value and poses a threat to the environment. Belarus does not need it: only one person (Aliaksandr Lukashenka - ed.) and Russia need it. For Rosatom, the construction of such facilities is a way to expand its geopolitical influence. Putin and his entourage believe that the more Russian nuclear facilities are built around the world, the more these countries will depend on Russia. In fact, this is true because these countries will need to deal with nuclear waste with Russian nuclear technologies and specialists. Lukashenka is also interested in this policy: he believes that this gives him the status of nuclear state, and now he will be respected.

Any nuclear power plant is unsafe. There is always a risk of an accident on it, and it always releases radionuclides in a routine mode. The BelNPP was built in a closed regime - and it is already known for sure that with violations. Its launch takes place in the absence of a license: for this, the legislation was changed. According to the law, a license is required to put a nuclear power plant into operation, but a normal permit is sufficient for commissioning.

- When the power plant was connected to the grid, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called on the European Union to stop importing electricity produced in Belarus. The operator of the Lithuanian power system Litgrid announced a complete stop of commercial electricity supplies from Belarus. Why?

- If an accident occurs at the BelNPP, Lithuania will have to evacuate its capital. The capital of Lithuania is located 50 kilometers from the station. They said in Belarus that they would sell them (the Baltic countries - ed.) electricity in such a way that they could not refuse it. Not anymore - Lithuania has given up not just the Belarusian nuclear power plant and its electricity, but the Belarusian electricity in general. Since November 3, when Belarus announced the physical launch of the BelNPP, they closed the entire power system at the reception. They cannot separate the kilowatts that are produced at the Belarusian NPP from other kilowatts because this is the total electricity that goes to the general grid. Therefore, they gave up any electricity from Belarus.

Before the launch of the BelNPP, Belarus supplied electricity to Lithuania; it was a profitable market. Now Belarus is becoming even more dependent on Russia.