Lithuanian PM: Visaginas NPP project cannot be implemented

VILNIUS - The current project of the Visaginas nuclear power plant (NPP), experts say, cannot be implemented because the electricity price there would be too high, PM Algirdas Butkevicius said yesterday.

After a sitting of the Political Council, the prime minister reiterated that Lithuania remains a nuclear energy country although the old NPP in Ignalina is being decommissioned.

"We cannot say anything different before we really decommission it," Butkevicius said.

The PM says that the Visaginas project was evaluated by a working group and a conclusion was made that the electricity produced at the plant would be too high.

"Therefore, we suggest our regional partners and Hitachi to look at our proposals and find another solution" he said.

Butkevicius did not specify what could improve the project funding conditions. Regional partners, he said, should analyze what can be done in order to change the project.

"This kind of project that was submitted cannot be implemented because of the conclusions made by experts," the PM said.