UK pledges 1.5 mln euro for Lithuania nuke closure

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

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UK pledges 1.5 mln euro for Lithuania nuke closure

  

VILNIUS, March 19 (Reuters) - Britain pledged on Monday to 

donate 1.5 million euros ($1.35 million) for the closure of the first 

unit of Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear plant and urged it to come soon 

to a decision on closing the second. 



"I was pleased to bring a letter which offers 1.5 million euros as a 

bilateral donation from the United Kingdom to Lithuania for the 

Ignalina decommissioning fund," Foreign Office Minister Brian 

Wilson told a news conference. 



"I think there's an understanding there that (deciding on closing 

both units of Ignalina) is an issue of considerable interest to EU 

member states in relation to Lithuania's accession to the European 

Union," Wilson added. 



Lithuania has already decided to shut down the first of Ignalina's 

two reactors in 2005 and Western donors pledged contributions of 

208 million euros ($195 million) last year to help close the first unit. 



The UK had previously not specified the amount it was planning to 

donate. 



Lithuania plans to make a decision on the second reactor in 2004 

although the European Commission urged European Union aspirant 

Lithuania to decide on the fate of the nuclear plant next year if it 

hopes to keep to its plans for fast-track EU entry. 



Lithuania has said it wants to complete EU negotiations by the end 

of 2002 and enter the wealthy 15-member bloc by 2004. 



The EU regards Ignalina as unsafe because it was built to the 

same design as Ukraine's disastrous Chernobyl plant, the scene of 

the world's worst civilian nuclear accident in 1986. 



The EU has set its sights on 2009 as a possible date for the 

closure of the second unit, and has hinted that Lithuania has to 

decide the closure dates for the second block before it finishes 

accession negotiations. 



Many in former Soviet Lithuania have been reluctant to shut 

Ignalina as it supplires more than 70 percent of the country's 

electricity. It was built in the 1980s on Moscow's orders and makes 

Lithuania one of the most nuclear dependent countries in the world. 



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Sandy Perle                                     Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100                                     

Director, Technical                             Extension 2306                                  

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service         Fax:(714) 668-3149                                          

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.                       E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net                                                      

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue           E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com                       

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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