VILNIUS - Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas said last week that though the state couldn't afford a new nuclear reactor it could establish the conditions for others to do so.
Speaking at an international conference on nuclear energy on Jan. 14, the prime minister stressed that the government could set up the necessary fundamentals for Lithuania to retain the peaceful atom and remain an exporter of electricity. He stressed that a new reactor could be employed under market conditions and built as a commercial enterprise with capital from large European companies.
Brazauskas told conference participants that although Lithuania couldn't undertake the financial obligations for a new nuclear power plant, the government was willing to go so far as to invite company executives to discuss the topic over the coming months.
France, Europe's most nuclear-energy dependent country after Lithuania, has already declared that it supports Lithuania's efforts to retain nuclear capacities. French officials said they were ready to provide assistance and proposed setting up a consortium of investors to attract funds.
Local companies would also be able to participate in the consortium. "We are glad that the Lithuanian government is determined to consider the possibility of retaining a nuclear country, and we support the decision. French companies are ready to offer assistance and share their experience if the government decides to build a new power station," said Dominique Maillard, head energy and resources directorate at France's Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry.
The conference also addressed energy policy after the full decommissioning of Ignalina in 2009. The first nuclear block was shut down on Dec. 31, 2004. Prior to closure, the facility provided more than 70 percent of Lithuania's energy needs.
