Nuclear power in Europe

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels has called on EU member states to end the six-year deadlock over one of Europe's touchiest topics and agree common nuclear safety rules as well as ways in which to store nuclear waste.

"It is an absolute necessity," EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs told EUobserver on Thursday (22 May), while blaming EU governments for a lack of political will to give Brussels a stronger say on the issue.

VILNIUS - An announcement by Moscow that it intended to build two nuclear reactors in the Kaliningrad region triggered dismay and alarm in neighboring Lithuania, which is struggling to get plans for its own atomic power plant off the ground.

Sergey Kiriyenko, head of the Rosatom nuclear energy agency, announced on April 16 that Russia would build two reactors with a combined 2,300 megawatts output in the region of Kaliningrad. He signed a framework agreement together with Kaliningrad Governor Georgy Boos.

VILNIUS, April 3 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday again poured cold water on Lithuanian hopes to extend the life of the Baltic state's Soviet-era nuclear power plant.
The government has said it will try to convince the Commission that the Baltic state will face serious energy shortages after shutting the Ignalina plant and has appointed a special negotiator to try and secure this goal.

Despite an agreement when it joined the EU, Lithuania lobbies to keep a nuclear power plant running beyond its deadline for closing

At a time when European nations are being urged to close old nuclear power plants and split state energy monopolies into competing private companies, Lithuania is doing the exact opposite.