Belarus: April 2008 Archives
My friend Kathy Ryan from Chernobyl Children’s Project International sent me a link to a story regarding Belarus’ President Alexandr Lukashenko and his attacks on critics of his plan to build a nuclear power station in the contaminated areas of his country.
Lukashenko argues that Belarus is surrounded by countries with nuclear power plants, any one of which could suffer a catastrophe and further contaminate his country. Since there are no guarantees that these stations are completely safe, he sees no reason why his country cannot have such a facility of its own.
Of course, Lukashenko says nothing about his attempts to repopulate the contaminated areas of Belarus in an attempt to increase agriculture and industry. After reading “contaminated areas” and “agriculture” in the same sentence, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the potential problems with this policy.
One could argue that if Belarus needs to establish some level of energy independence (and I fully support that), what better than to build a nuclear plant in an already contaminated area. However, that argument falls flat on its face when you consider that Lukashenko is forcing people to repopulate the area.
Yes, you read that right. People are being forced to repopulate contaminated areas of Belarus. Apparently the government is requiring many university graduates to live and work in contaminated areas. If they refuse, students could be stripped of their diplomas or required to reimburse the state for the full cost of their educations.
These work assignments began in 2007 and approximately 25% of this year’s 21,000 graduates are being sent to contaminated areas. So far, around 800 youths have refused their assignments.
Lukashenko argues that Belarus is surrounded by countries with nuclear power plants, any one of which could suffer a catastrophe and further contaminate his country. Since there are no guarantees that these stations are completely safe, he sees no reason why his country cannot have such a facility of its own.
Of course, Lukashenko says nothing about his attempts to repopulate the contaminated areas of Belarus in an attempt to increase agriculture and industry. After reading “contaminated areas” and “agriculture” in the same sentence, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the potential problems with this policy.
One could argue that if Belarus needs to establish some level of energy independence (and I fully support that), what better than to build a nuclear plant in an already contaminated area. However, that argument falls flat on its face when you consider that Lukashenko is forcing people to repopulate the area.
Yes, you read that right. People are being forced to repopulate contaminated areas of Belarus. Apparently the government is requiring many university graduates to live and work in contaminated areas. If they refuse, students could be stripped of their diplomas or required to reimburse the state for the full cost of their educations.
These work assignments began in 2007 and approximately 25% of this year’s 21,000 graduates are being sent to contaminated areas. So far, around 800 youths have refused their assignments.
