Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Energy, Legislation, Lithuania, Nuclear power plant

"I believe it is a crime. A crime, which means we did not realize the Chernobyl disaster and did not draw any conclusions," Alexievich said in Panevezys, northern Lithuania, on Saturday in comment of the Astravyets project.

She said that people did not realize the scope of the Chernobyl disaster, as the collapse of the Soviet Union drew people's attention to other problems – lost jobs and the tumbling system.

The writer also said that the decision to build the nuclear facility had been made by a single person, Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"In an authoritarian country, all decisions are taken by a single person. It was him who decided to build a nuclear power plant. And the society is too paralyzed to say something," said Alexievich.

Lithuania is the most ardent opponent of the construction of the Astravyets nuclear plant in Belarus, merely 50 km from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. In Lithuania's opinion, Belarus fails to ensure safety of the project, while Minsk says that highest safety standards would be ensured in the project.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which ripped through Ukraine on April 26 of 1986, was one of the biggest nuclear accidents worldwide, leading to evacuation of more than 100,000 residents.