Ottawa backs AECL on Lithuanian reactor bid

LITHUANIA - Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) has been supported by Canadian government in its bid to supply nuclear reactors to Lithuania, after the Baltic state shuts down its Soviet-era reactor at end of 2009.

Areva S.A. and Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC are seen as the two main competitors at the tender, which Lithuania plans to announce in 2010.

"I do believe that CANDU reactors offer very favorable solutions." said Stockwell Day, Canada's minister of international trade.

Ala Alizadeh, the vice-president of AECL, said that the company was offering Lithuania its 700 megawatts (MW) enhanced CANDU 6 reactor, which would be constructed in 54 months.

Ala Alizadeh also said that the reactor's size was most suitable for the Baltic state given the country's power grid and its plans to associate with the western European electricity system.

Lithuania government said that it wants to construct a new nuclear reactor by 2018 in cooperation with Latvia, Estonia and Poland, to decrease energy dependence on Russia.