Lithuania nuclear chief sees delay to new plant

[jpak]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7114040

VISAGINAS, Lithuania, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A planned new Lithuanian nuclear plant faces a delay of at least two years to 2017, the head of the country's current sole atomic power facility said on Thursday.

Viktor Shevaldin, head of the Ignalina nuclear plant, due to be shut down at the end of 2009 under Lithuania's European Union entry terms, said several uncertainties remained about the planning and eventual construction of a new plant.

"They have wasted two years in talking," said Shevaldin, one of Lithuania's top nuclear experts, referring to negotiations by Lithuania and neighbouring countries on building the plant.

"This adds up and it makes 2017," he told Reuters in an interview at the Ignalina plant in eastern Lithuania.

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