Belarus Demands Answers from Lithuania Over Fire at Ignalina Nuclear Plant
The Belarusian foreign ministry has demanded that Lithuania immediately provide full information about a fire that occurred at the closed Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, accusing Vilnius of withholding official details days after the incident.
«We demand that Lithuania immediately provide complete data about the incident at the Ignalina NPP and, in general, strictly adhere to all its obligations,» said foreign ministry spokesman Ruslan Varankou in a statement released Friday evening.
«Despite existing intergovernmental agreements and treaties between the relevant regulatory bodies of the two countries in the field of safety… official information about this incident has still not been received,» Varankou stated.
He characterized this approach as «cynical,» given Lithuania’s own demands for greater transparency regarding the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravyets. Varankou further accused Lithuania of «systematic neglect» of its international obligations.
What Happened at the Ignalina NPP?
Earlier this week, the administration of the Ignalina plant, which was shut down over 16 years ago, reported a fire on its premises. The blaze occurred in a separate complex for radioactive waste management (Building 130), located more than 250 meters from the station’s main reactor units.
«Primary decontamination of class A (very low-level) radioactive waste is conducted in this complex,» the plant administration said.
«During decontamination work, a new batch of radioactive waste—metal—was loaded into a shot blasting machine, a special device for surface treatment of waste. The machine was closed and started operating. After some time, a muffled sound was heard, and smoke started coming from the machine’s filters,» Ignalina NPP representative Jolita Mažeikenė told the BNS news agency, detailing the incident.
She said that upon seeing smoke, workers reacted quickly, called firefighters, and the fire was localized within approximately twenty-five minutes.
«The cause of the fire is not yet clear,» a plant spokesman said.
According to Lithuania’s Radiation Protection Centre, the environmental radiation background did not change, and there is no threat to the public or the environment.
«No radiological hazard to residents has been detected (environmental background radiation measurements have already been taken on site; the results do not exceed established norms). The incident does not affect radiation safety, so residents have no reason to worry,» the regulatory body said in a statement.