1/31/2007

Foreign minister confirms Poland's participation in nuclear project

Poland will sign a deal with the three Baltic states on building a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania, Poland's foreign minister said Tuesday.

"We are very interested in this project. Poland hopes that, in cooperation with the Lithuanian government, this deal will be finalized and signed as soon as possible," Anna Fotyga said after meeting Lithuanian counterpart Petras Vaitiekunas.

Fotyga stressed that special agreements must be signed among private companies that plan to participate in the project, which could cost up to $5.3billion. The new plant is expected to be completed in 2015.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a memorandum last year to build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging Ignalina plant, which Lithuania is phasing out under orders from the European Union. Poland expressed its interest in joining the project in December.

Fear of reliance on Russian energy after the planned closure of the Ignalina plant in 2009 has sparked a flurry of activity in the regional energy industry, with Baltic leaders rushing to integrate their energy systems with those of other EU countries.

Also in December, Poland and Lithuania signed an agreement to connect their power grids.

The Ignalina plant, which provides some 80 percent of Lithuania's electricity, is similar in design to he Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine that became the site of he world's worst civilian nuclear accident in 1986.
Source:

Etykiety: , , , , , , ,



Flights to Poland

Novea - Business in Poland