"Today, we cannot say the Astravyets NPP won’t be launched this Friday. I can only say that everything is happening very hastily. Not all tests related to safety have been done, and the stress-tests have not been carried out either," Dainius Gaizauskas, the CNSD chairman, said after the committee's meeting on Wednesday, held to discuss Lithuania's preparations for Astravyet's launch.
"We don’t have official confirmed information on Astravyets' launch," Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas said after the meeting.
According to Gaizauskas, based on the information Lithuania has, the Astrayets NPP does not have an operating license yet.
"We know the way processes are taking place in Belarus. Based on the information we have today, the facility should be launched on Friday," the CNSD chairman said.
Vaiciunas hopes Astravyets' launch will not undermine the synchronization of Lithuania's power system with that of continental Europe.
Lithuania is the staunchest critics of the nuclear facility under construction in Belarus in violation of safety requirements and is ready to boycott the entry of power from this facility into the market. Minsk rejects Vilnius' reproaches.