Lithuania believes that the incident of 10 July 2016, when a nuclear reactor vessel was damaged, was especially dangerous. Therefore, the representatives of Lithuania requested to replace the damaged nuclear reactor vessel. Lithuania has also offered Belarus to invite an international commission consisting of experts from the European Union and Lithuania. The commission would oversee the construction work of the Astravets NPP and prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
The Lithuanian delegation once again requested Belarus to present in written form all the scientific and technical information that was presented in the meeting in Vilnius. Lithuania maintains a position that the issue concerning the environmental impact assessment process of the Astravets NPP project remains open, as Lithuania’s questions about the NPP safety have not been answered.
In the meeting in Minsk, the Lithuanian delegation again demanded that Belarus should, without further delay, invite the Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Site and External Events Design (SEED) mission and perform comprehensive risk and safety assessments (stress-tests) with the participation of experts from the European Union and Lithuania. The Lithuanian delegation reiterated that Belarus should halt the construction work until this was done.
Lithuania once again demanded that Belarus should recalculate the population density in the territories around the Astravets NPP in accordance with international standards, especially taking into account that Vilnius is the largest and the most densely populated city. Belarus excludes the inhabitants of Vilnius and of other areas of Lithuania from their calculations of population density and possible radiological impact. Only Belarusian population is calculated and taken into account in preparing the country’s position that the radiological consequences resulting from incidents will not be significant and that emergency preparedness plans are not necessary.
In the meeting, the Lithuanian experts presented a study on the possible impact on the Neris River that will be a water source used for the Astravets NPP cooling, as well as an underground source of drinking water in the event of an accident. The Lithuanian delegation has received no reliable evidence that the river basin and underground drinking water will not be contaminated in case of an accident.
In the meeting in Minsk, there was a controversy over the approach to the application of international standards, cross-border environmental impact assessment procedure, transparency, openness, and the principles of good-neighbourliness. Belarus refuses to recognise that it has violated the United Nations Espoo Convention, even though the fact was stated in the Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention in June 2014.
The Lithuanian delegation consisted of experts from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate, the Radiation Protection Centre, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Centre of Physical and Technological Sciences, the Lithuanian Geological Survey, the Ministry of Energy, the Radioactive Waste Management Agency, Epso-g, and the Ignalina NPP.
