BNS: Lithuania expects to launch construction on new N-plant next year - Prime Minister
Updated 2009-04-14
VILNIUS, Apr 08, BNS - Lithuania expects to begin actual work on the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas at the start of 2010, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said on Wednesday.
Speaking after a meeting with his Latvian counterpart, Valdis Dombrovskis, in Vilnius, Kubilius said that an action plan and a calendar plan for two years, or the so-called "road map," would be presented to the partners in late April.
"We are ready to present what we call "the road map" during a meeting of the Baltic prime ministers in Vilnius in late April. [In this document] we set out a clear calendar plan for two years. The bottom line is that we expect that actual work, based on an agreed business model, could start in early 2010," he said.
Lithuania expects to build a nuclear power plant by 2018 together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland and a strategic partner -- a strong Western company. The new facility would replace the existing Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, which is to be shut down at the end of this year.
