Energy officials want Baltics to remain atomic

  • 2005-05-18
  • From wire reports
VILNIUS - Top executives from the Baltics' three energy companies reiterated in a discussion on energy issues on May 17 that alternatives for extending operations of the second unit of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant beyond 2009 should be considered.

The event brought together almost 90 representatives from economics and energy ministries, energy companies and associations of the Baltic countries, Finland, Poland and Sweden.

In accordance with its pre-accession agreement with the European Union, Lithuania shut down one of Ignalina's two power units on the last day of 2004 and has pledged to close the entire facility by the end of 2009. But officials from Latvenergo and Eesti Energia stressed that the region will lack self-sufficient energy capacities if closure of the second reactor unit proceeds as planned.

Lithuanian Economy Minister Viktor Uspaskich said that building a new nuclear power plant could solve this problem.

"The government has already declared its support for building a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania," he said. "We are ready to offer a site, all the necessary infrastructure and specialists to a potential investor in a new atomic plant."

Along with France, Lithuania is one of the most atomic energy-dependent countries in Europe, and the surplus output of electricity plays a major role in the country's trade balance.