Russia’s plan to build nuclear reactors alarms Lithuania

Plans by Russia to construct two nuclear reactors in the region of Kaliningrad have raised eyebrows in Lithuania. The plan was made public by the head of the Rosatom nuclear energy agency, Sergey Kiriyenko. The two reactors are expected to have a power generating capacity of 2.3 gigawatts and the scheduled date for completion is 2015.

Officials of the Lithuanian government as well as analysts were of the view that the move by Russia would make a nuclear reactor being built in Lithuania unviable.

Gediminas Kirkilas, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, concluded that the move by Russia translated to mean that Russia not happy with plans by countries such as Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Lithuania to construct their own nuclear power plants. He added that Russia wanted them to be dependent on it for electricity.

Analysts on the other hand were of the view that the reason behind Russia’s intention to construct two nuclear reactors in the region of Kaliningrad was meant to undermine the plan by Lithuania to build a 3.2 gigawatt nuclear power facility in Ignalina to supplant an existing reactor that is going to be decommissioned.

The suspicions in Lithuania are further reinforced by the fact the nuclear reactor being built in the region of Kaliningrad will cost five billion Euros and will have a power generating capacity of 2.3 gigawatts which exceeds the peak requirements of the Kaliningrad region which has a population of about a million people.

It is expected that once the Lithuanian reactor is decommissioned in late 2009, the Baltic region will be dependent on electricity imports.