The current energy situation in Belarus might turn into a crisis for the country. Dependence on Russian energy is making the region unstable, and Belarusian authorities believe that construction of a nuclear power plant is the main solution. Earlier Belarusian plans on nuclear energy were announced as early as the 1980s, but were suspended after the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The project foresees construction of two reactors in 2016-2020, and probably two more reactors by 2025. The reactors would be supplied by Russian Atomstroyexport and the plant would be located at Astravets, near the Lithuanian border.
Belarus' potential for energy efficiency is among the greatest in the world, and the country has so far done little to utilize its potential for renewable energy. Norges Naturvernforbund believe that the social, political and economical costs of constructing a nuclear power plant is far higher than what is believed. Simple energy efficiency measures may easily save the amount of energy produced by a nuclear power by many times. In Belarus the energy consumption per GDP is almost twice the amount of that in developed countries with similar climatic conditions.
A Belarusian Presidential Directive decree from 2007, containing specific goals on reduction of energy intensity (to be reduced by 31% by 2010, by 50% by 2015 and by 60% by 2020), pledges to substitute 25% of national electricity production by local sources, such as waste and renewables, by 2012. We believe that constructing a Nuclear Power plant will halt the positive work being done to reach these goals.
