Budrys warns Astravets expansion will raise risks for Lithuania

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys warned that plans to expand Belarus’s Astravets nuclear power plant would increase risks to Lithuania, LRT reported. He made the remarks after meeting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in Warsaw on Tuesday.

“The Astravets nuclear power plant remains a problem. We have serious doubts about the safety culture at this and other plants built by Rosatom. The planned expansion of the plant in Belarus will increase risks to Lithuania,” Budrys said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry. He said Lithuania hoped for IAEA involvement in managing nuclear safety risks.

The two also discussed nuclear safety in Ukraine. Budrys said pressure on the Kremlin should be increased to stop attacks on civilian energy infrastructure while Russia continues its aggression.

“Russia’s continued use of winter as a weapon against Ukraine and its manipulation of nuclear safety for military purposes are unacceptable,” he said. Budrys also voiced support for the IAEA’s work in Ukraine and said he expected its missions there to continue for as long as necessary.

In September, BNS reported that Belarus was planning to build another unit at Astravets. Lithuania’s State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate had again warned Minsk that the plant’s potential impact on the Vilnius region had not been assessed.

Inspectorate head Michail Demchenka said the agency had received no information from Belarusian institutions about specific safety improvements already carried out or planned. A copy of the inspectorate’s letter was sent to the IAEA, the European Commission and the heads of European nuclear safety bodies.

Astravets has two Russian-built VVER-1200 reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts. The first unit began operating in November 2020 and the second in May 2023. Their construction was financed through a long-term Russian loan. Lithuania has repeatedly criticised Belarus, saying the plant was built without complying with nuclear safety and environmental requirements.