Lukashenko doesn’t rule out building second NPP in Belarus

During today’s working trip to the Kostyukovichi District of the Mogilev Region, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko said he does not rule out the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Belarus in the east of the country

During a conversation with local residents, the Head of State noted, “Probably, our society has already survived the post-Chernobyl syndrome. If I say that I was very worried when adopting the decision to build the station, it means to say nothing. It was difficult to take on this problem in the Chernobyl-affected country, even for a president. But we ventured. I took a chance, and you did it. Today we understand that we did the right thing. This is the purest kind of energy.”

The President stressed that current nuclear technologies have greatly advanced since the time when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or a similar Ignalina nuclear power plant was built in Lithuania. Moreover, the disaster itself was the result of the human factor, to a greater extent.

“This does not mean that we have to stop and do nothing, just waiting for happiness to fall from the sky. Therefore, it was decided to build a nuclear power plant. However, we built it not only to get electricity. I wanted to have a new school in Belarus. The construction of this facility, especially its exploitation, has facilitated education. We need to rebuild education now in order to train specialists,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.

According to the President, this work is carried out with the support of Russian specialists and taking into account the best international experience.

“I wanted to teach Belarusians to do this, enabling them to work together with Russians. Once I told Putin that I want Belarusians ‘to go with your people to Egypt, Turkiye, Hungary, and China to build nuclear power plants now’. That’s what he told me recently: ‘Now you can build a nuclear power plant on your own’. Yes, we can. Of course, we will not create a reactor here, we will buy it from Russia and build this facility. Russian engineers are always ready to help us, because it is very important in the beginning. We do this very efficiently, and we built our station ourselves in many ways… Today, our specialists are working with Russians all over the world, building similar nuclear power plants,” the President underlined.

As for the criticism of the project from the West, Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke without excessive diplomacy, “They are complete bastards. And our fugitives are bastards and scoundrels.”

The Head of State recalled that in the wake of political turbulence in 2020, the ‘fifth column’ called for the curtailment of the BelNPP construction project. Some, in the heat of the moment, may have unwittingly taken the wrong side. The President urged not to rush and see what the Western countries themselves are doing.

“Poland, which initiated this nonsense against us, plans at first to build two nuclear power plants. Brainless people in Lithuania have lost the Ignalina facility … This station was normal and could work. It was necessary just to adjust everything and receive electricity for the whole of the country, but today they buy electrical energy at crazy prices,” Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded.

Other EU countries – which decided to close their nuclear power plants, refocusing on wind energy and other renewable sources – have also received negative consequences, including regarding the price of energy.

“We acted wisely. We withstood and built this station,” the President stated.

Aleksandr Lukashenko drew attention to the fact that the construction of the Belarusian NPP opened up the opportunity to expand the use of electricity, particularly, to develop electric transport and build housing with electric heating.

“That’s why I have such a crazy idea to build a second nuclear power plant, and now it is already dominating your mind. The second site (previously, as an alternative to Ostrovets, where the BelNPP was built, the Krasnopolyanskaya site was identified) is located east of Mogilev. I’m thinking today if we build a second nuclear power plant, where will we place these reactors?” the President asked.

Aleksandr Lukashenko clarified that it is possible to consider options for the construction of two more power units in Ostrovets. Meanwhile, the topic of the construction of a new station does not lose its relevance.

“We are still thinking. I’m inclined to believe that we have a station in the west, so we should also have a similar facility in the east of the country,” the President noted.

The residents of Kostyukovichi greeted these words with applause, but Aleksandr Lukashenko noticed, “I haven’t made a decision yet. We’re just thinking and comparing everything. Of course, we need money which we can borrow today by taking a loan in order to gradually pay it off, as for this station. Therefore, there are still many questions dealing with this topic. If I do not have time to finish this project in my political life, well, I would like at least to start it.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko is confident that the construction of a second nuclear power plant would be a serious step forward, comparing it with the development of space technologies, in which our country has also succeeded.