Berisha sparks local, international debate on Albania’s nuclear possibilities

TIRANA, Nov. 10 – A recent statement by Prime Minister Sali Berisha that Albania could offer a location to build a nuclear reactor sparked international reactions and also political opposition at home.
Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, still endures acute electricity shortages and almost daily blackouts. This dire power problem seems to have been the reason why Berisha told Italian journalists he had met representatives of the U.S. Westinghouse Company to discuss the possibility of building a nuclear reactor in Albania to supply power not only to the country, but also to export it in the region, or, as Berisha said, to allow Albania to become a small power superpower.
The proposal alarmed neighboring Greece, but elicited interest from Italy.
Tirana proposed to build nuclear plants that would supply electricity across the Adriatic by way of an underwater cable.
The news emerged at an Italo-Albanian business conference in Tirana where Berisha said he aimed to turn Albania into a regional energy superpower.
He said the government was consulting contractors such as Westinghouse.
Zana Guxholli, an economic adviser to the Albanian government, said a Franco-Swiss consortium had prepared a plan for a nuclear plant on the north coast, according to the British newspaper, The Guardian.
An Albanian civil nuclear program could not only help the country fill its own gaping power shortfalls, but get around popular resistance in Italy to nuclear generation.
A referendum there in 1987 led to a five-year moratorium on nuclear power, and no government since has dared reopen the issue. But the idea has prompted alarm in neighboring Greece.
The daily La Stampa reported that talks had been held with the Italian grid operator, Terna, on linking the Italian and Albanian electricity networks.
Pier Ferdinando Casini said the chance for importing electricity from Albania “must not be allowed to slip”.
Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi, is due to visit Albania for talks early next month.
Berisha has also negative reactions at home, as well as in Greece. Opposition Socialists immediately came out to say that Berisha could not determine the country’s future on his own. They said on such an important issue he had to hold a referendum.
They also called the offer ridiculous, considering it a way for Berisha to move attention from the chronic lack of power supplies. They said he had pledged to have regular non-stop power supply when he came to power two years ago.