OREANDA-NEWS. On 13 April 2009 was announced, that Belarus is not going to give up its nuclear power plant project despite the global financial and economic crisis, Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters during his visit to the Gomel Region.

“Hard as it may be, we will build the nuclear power plant. We have not considered postponing the construction for a year or two at my level. We are not going to do it,” Lukashenko said.

Preparatory work is on schedule, the president said.

Russia is ready to provide a loan for the project. “We made up our mind to build a supermodern nuclear power plant to supply people with cheaper energy, and we will not give up,” the president said.

Lukashenko slammed the opposition leaders who are expected to challenge the decision of the authorities to build the power plant on the eve of the Chernobyl disaster anniversary. “The statements of some opposition leaders prove they want to do harm to their country,” Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko cited the results of a recent poll: more than 60% of Belarusians support the construction of the nuclear power plant.

“We are surrounded by nuclear power units, and should something happen, we will suffer just like we did from the Chernobyl accident. At the same time, we do not have the benefit the whole world has. Europe, where green parties used to campaign against nuclear power, has made up its mind to boost the development of nuclear power engineering. We must follow suit! Today nuclear power plants are built in China, Russia, the countries that have sufficient mineral resources, while we import energy resources,” Lukashenko said.

“This will be the chief achievement of our time. A nuclear power plant is not only energy, it will take the country to a whole new level. Crises come and go. We need to teach people new technologies,” Lukashenko concluded.

Belarus’ interdepartmental commission on December 20 chose Ostrovetskaya site, 50 kilometers from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, as the location for Belarus’ first nuclear power plant.

Belarus plans to build a 2,000 MW nuclear power plant. The two units will be launched in 2016 and 2018, respectively.