Belarusian press: “Nuclear power plant as an alternative to Russian gas”
The Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka held a meeting dedicated to the construction of a Belarusian nuclear power plant on Wednesday. He set the aim to start building the plant at the beginning of 2008. The deputy Minister of Energy Mihail Mihadzuik claimed at a press conference that the nuclear power plant would start being used by Belarus before 2020.
In his interview given to “Interfax” Mіhadzyuk informed that the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus was a state decision:
“There are two documents providing for the realization of this project: the construction of a nuclear power plant is provided for by President’s directive #3 and by the approved concept of energy safety of Belarus. It is clearly written that a 2000 MW nuclear power plant should be built till 2020”.
According to Belarusian calculations, the electric power station will cost our country about 3.5 billion dollars. An information agency afn.by is quoting the Minister of Energy Alyaksandr Azyarets:
“The construction of the first Belarusian nuclear power plant will cost us 3.5 billion dollars”. According to the Minister, the necessity of construction of a nuclear power plant was caused by the increase in prices for hydrocarbon raw stuff.
“Komsomolskaya pravda v Belorussii” counted that the construction of the electric power station will pay for itself in 6 or 7 years, but “KP” noted that the plant will have to be supplied with nuclear fuel and employees will have to be paid, etc.
Let us remind you that 3.5 billion dollars is more that the whole gold and exchange currency reserve of our country. Moreover, international experts doubt that the sum will be enough. They think that the construction of a nuclear power plant will cost Belarus more.
“Belarus should make all the calculations before starting the construction of a nuclear power plant”, - “Interfax” quotes the regional UN adviser on energy Yauhen Nadzezhdzin.
According to him, the world price for construction of a 1 KW nuclear power plant costs 3 thousand dollars instead of 1.2 as it was announced by Belarus.
“There is no complete nuclear cycle in Belarus. The burial of nuclear waste costs a lot and there will be expenses needed to provide for safety of the plant. Education of the staff is also expensive”, - warns Nadzezhdzin addressing Belarusian officials.
The Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov thinks that the construction of a Belarusian nuclear power plant will cost our country at least 4 billion dollars.
Of cause money is not the only problem. Belarus has already suffered from “the peaceful atom” once. People fear that it may repeat. Furthermore, ERB has found out that Russia presented Belarusians an experimental project – a reactor that does not exist at the moment and it is not clear how it will work.
However, it is necessary to mention that a nuclear power plant may diminish the extent of Belarusian dependence of Russian gas supplies. “Sovetskaya Belorussiya”:
“The role of Russian gas in Belarusian power industry is rather great (more than 95%). That is why any increase in its price causes economic problems”.
Interestingly, Belarusian officials have ordered “Gazprom” 21.6 billion cubic meters of gas in 2008 in spite of President’s directive #3 – that’s practically the same amount as this year.
“Atom, coal, wind, you can even install solar batteries throughout the country despite the fact that we have very few sunny days for it, wood and peat, however, Belarus is not going to cut down on Russian gas usage.
You can read the directive as many times as you like but the real alternative to oil and gas has not been invented in the world yet”, - thinks afn.by.
In his interview given to “Interfax” Mіhadzyuk informed that the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus was a state decision:
“There are two documents providing for the realization of this project: the construction of a nuclear power plant is provided for by President’s directive #3 and by the approved concept of energy safety of Belarus. It is clearly written that a 2000 MW nuclear power plant should be built till 2020”.
According to Belarusian calculations, the electric power station will cost our country about 3.5 billion dollars. An information agency afn.by is quoting the Minister of Energy Alyaksandr Azyarets:
“The construction of the first Belarusian nuclear power plant will cost us 3.5 billion dollars”. According to the Minister, the necessity of construction of a nuclear power plant was caused by the increase in prices for hydrocarbon raw stuff.
“Komsomolskaya pravda v Belorussii” counted that the construction of the electric power station will pay for itself in 6 or 7 years, but “KP” noted that the plant will have to be supplied with nuclear fuel and employees will have to be paid, etc.
Let us remind you that 3.5 billion dollars is more that the whole gold and exchange currency reserve of our country. Moreover, international experts doubt that the sum will be enough. They think that the construction of a nuclear power plant will cost Belarus more.
“Belarus should make all the calculations before starting the construction of a nuclear power plant”, - “Interfax” quotes the regional UN adviser on energy Yauhen Nadzezhdzin.
According to him, the world price for construction of a 1 KW nuclear power plant costs 3 thousand dollars instead of 1.2 as it was announced by Belarus.
“There is no complete nuclear cycle in Belarus. The burial of nuclear waste costs a lot and there will be expenses needed to provide for safety of the plant. Education of the staff is also expensive”, - warns Nadzezhdzin addressing Belarusian officials.
The Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov thinks that the construction of a Belarusian nuclear power plant will cost our country at least 4 billion dollars.
Of cause money is not the only problem. Belarus has already suffered from “the peaceful atom” once. People fear that it may repeat. Furthermore, ERB has found out that Russia presented Belarusians an experimental project – a reactor that does not exist at the moment and it is not clear how it will work.
However, it is necessary to mention that a nuclear power plant may diminish the extent of Belarusian dependence of Russian gas supplies. “Sovetskaya Belorussiya”:
“The role of Russian gas in Belarusian power industry is rather great (more than 95%). That is why any increase in its price causes economic problems”.
Interestingly, Belarusian officials have ordered “Gazprom” 21.6 billion cubic meters of gas in 2008 in spite of President’s directive #3 – that’s practically the same amount as this year.
“Atom, coal, wind, you can even install solar batteries throughout the country despite the fact that we have very few sunny days for it, wood and peat, however, Belarus is not going to cut down on Russian gas usage.
You can read the directive as many times as you like but the real alternative to oil and gas has not been invented in the world yet”, - thinks afn.by.
