The Lithuania Tribune/Tereza Holanová
Lithuania most possibly wont follow the German scenario and will support nuclear energy even in the future, Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas said.
According to the minister, Lithuania should not take an example from some European countries that started to refuse nuclear energy. The similar statement was made by Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite in the past. Sekmokas thinks that the country should rather continue concentrating on developement of its nuclear sector. „Different countries choose different paths. Poland, by the way, has recently confirmed that it will develop its nuclear programme, Finland also does the same and continues the construction of nuclear power plants. Sweden also plans to upgrade its nuclear plants’ capacities,“ Sekmokas was quoted by ELTA news agency.
Currently, Lithuania does not have any operating nuclear power plant (NPP). The only NPP in the country, that was located in Northeastern part of Lithuania near the town of Visaginas, was shut down at the end of 2009. Lithuanian government is searching for a strategic investor who would take part in a new NPP construction at the moment, nevertheless, it has received only one reasonable bid, which was later withdrawn. However, the government still attempts to find a suitable partner through direct negotiations. Therefore it is obvious that nuclear energy has been supported by Lithuanian politicians so far.
The German political representatives approved a strategy to close all its nuclear power plants untill 2022. This attitude could also have a negative influence on Lithuanias´ nuclear future, warn energy specialists. According to them, Germanys´ decision is a bad sign for Vilnius, because it can mean that the EU’s economically most powerful member state will oppose nuclear power projects in smaller countries, Lietuvos rytas reported on May 31.
The final decesion concerning Lithuanias´ focuse on nuclear energy will depend on Seimas (Lithuanian parliament) and its national energy strategy. General public opinian might play a significant role too. In the past, most of Lithuanians were against the Ignalina NPP closure, anyway, according to present pools, a considerable share of population started to oppose a new NPP construction.
