VILNIUS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian officials rejected on Friday the idea from the Belarusian president to exploit a new Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) near the border of the two countries.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius on Friday rejected the idea of cooperation in Astravets NPP and repeatedly demanded the country to ensure an independent inspection of construction work.
Belarus "shouldn't maintain hopes to sell electricity from the unsafe power plant," Linkevicius told BNS news agency.
According to Linkevicius, an independent international surveillance of the project would strengthen trust.
On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was quoted as saying by Belarusian news agency Belta: "Let's work together. Considering the electricity deficit in Lithuania, let's work together to make the electricity export possible at normal, acceptable prices."
Fresh discussions about the safety of the NPP in Astravets have erupted in recent days following reports about a construction incident last month.
On July 10, the nuclear reactor vessel became unbalanced and slowly slipped from a height of four meters due to crane failure.
Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom, the prime contractor of the Astravets power plant construction, claimed that the incident did not damage equipment.
The Lithuanian energy ministry ordered an independent investigation into the accident.
The Baltic state has been against the construction of the Astravets nuclear power plant in neighboring Belarus since the start, claiming the project is insecure.
The power plant is around 50 km away from Vilnius, Lithuania's capital. Lithuanian authorities fear the country's capital could be exposed to contamination risks in the case of a nuclear accident.
The launch of the first unit of the Astravets nuclear power plant is scheduled in 2018, with the second reactor to be launched in 2019, according to Lithuanian media.
