Ambassador papers over the nuclear cracks

VILNIUS - The opinion expressed by an official of theEstonian Economy Ministry that his country would not support the Lithuanianaim of extending the lifespan of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant does notreflect the official position of Estonia, says the country's Ambassador toLithuania, Andres Tropp.

Violeta Gaizauskaite, director of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry'sInformation and Public Relations Department, said Tropp had also stressed onFriday that Estonia understood well the difficulties that Lithuania would gothrough after closing Ignalina in 2009. Tropp restated Estonia's firmsupport to the construction of a new nuclear plant in Lithuania.

Estonia, which is one of Lithuania's closest allies and future partner inconstructing the new power plant, has recently made statements that thecountry will not support Lithuania's quest to negotiate extension ofIgnalina N-plant's operation, which the latter grounds on the imminenteconomic burden.

Head of the Energy Department under the Economy and CommunicationsMinistry of Estonia Einari Kisel told BNS Thursday that Lithuania will havesufficient energy production capacity after the closing of Ignalina N-plantin the end of 2009.

He indicated that the bigger problem was that other plants were stokedmostly by natural gas, therefore closing the Ignalina plant would cause fora considerable surge in energy prices.

Kisel also added that should the Ignalina plant be closed as planned,Lithuanians would expedite the process of constructing the new plant, whilenow, according to the Estonian officer, Lithuania is focusing mainly onsaving the Ignalina N-plant and not on the new plant.

After the statements, the Estonian ambassador was summoned to the ForeignMinistry and familiarized with the governmental commission to be in chargeof evaluating all options for secure energy supply following the closing ofthe plant in 2009 as well as the goals of their activity among otherissues.

The Foreign Ministry also made an analogous request to Lithuania'sAmbassador in Tallinn Juozas Bernatonis.

Furthermore, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas plans todiscuss the results of this process with his Estonian counterpart in themeeting of Foreign Ministers in Brussels to take place beginning of nextweek.

Lithuania wants to extend the lifespan of the Ignalina power plantbecause a new nuclear plant would only be constructed, with participation ofLatvia, Estonia and Poland, a decade after the planned decommissioning ofIgnalina in the end of 2009.

Lithuania assumed the obligation of closing Ignalina during its accessionin the EU, which considers Ignalina's Soviet-built RBMK-type reactors asgenerally unsafe. Lithuania closed the first nuclear block of Ignalina inthe end of 2004.

After the country becomes deprived of nuclear energy, the Lithuanianelectricity sector will become fully dependent on natural gas supplies fromRussia.

Negotiations with the European Union over the possibility of extendingthe lifespan of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, even though Lithuaniaitself doesn't get its hopes up over their success - should commence in theEuropean Summit next week, March 13-14.