Thirty years after world’s worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Belarus, which saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the disaster, is building its first energy plant powered by the atom.

However a series of mishaps at the site in Astravets are raising concerns over safety, particularly in Lithuania whose capital, Vilnius, lies less than 31 miles (50km) from the site.

In July it was reported by local news that a nuclear reactor shell had been dropped while being moved. Local resident Nikolai Ulasevich, who is a member of the opposition United Civic Party, claimed the 330-tonne shell had fallen from a height of 2-4m in preparation for installation.

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Two weeks later the Belarusian Energy Ministry confirmed that an “emergency situation” had occurred at the construction site. It said that the incident took place at the warehouse facility, while the reactor was being moved.

The Russian state-owned company Rosatom, the nuclear plant’s main contractor, denied the reactor shell had been damaged, and should be installed as planned pending permission from supervisors.

Despite such assurances, the Belarusian deputy energy minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk has since reportedly said the installation of the reactor shell was being suspended pending further safety checks.

The Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said the lack of transparency on the part of Belarusian officials was unacceptable. “These incidents, happening from time to time, lack of transparency, we’re learning about them from open sources, usually too late.... This is not how it should be in reality. This last incident when a nuclear reactor vessel was possibly damaged is very dangerous,” he said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is investing in nuclear power in the hope it will free his country from Russia’s energy grip. At present approximately 90% percent of Belarus’s gas imports come from its dominant neighbour.

The plant at Astravets, however, is being built by Russian companies and Moscow is jointly financing the project, which is estimated to cost between $5bn and $22bn. Unit 1 of the construction is due to come online in 2018 and Unit 2 in 2020. Two other reactors are planned to be completed by 2025.

Soviet deja vu

Lukashenko remained tightlipped after the accident, prompting many to draw parallels with the Soviet authorities in 1986, when no information was issued about the Chernobyl accident for 10 days after the initial explosion.

Yury Varonezhtsau, a physicist and former parliamentary deputy, said: “For me it’s a natural deja vu, as if I travelled back in a time machine a quarter of a century when we were investigating the causes of the Chernobyl disaster. Then, it was the same, but the difference was it was a totalitarian state, the Soviet Union, and now it’s the supposedly democratic government of Belarus.”

Critics say Minsk has failed to carry out an environmental-impact study for Astravets. The power plant will draw water for its cooling reactors from the Nevis River, which also supplies drinking water in Lithuania.

It’s not the first mishap at the construction site, nor the first time Belarusian officials have resisted divulging any details.

The structural frame of the nuclear service building at the site collapsed in April, as first reported by the Belsat independent TV station. According to the report, supervisors, under pressure to meet a deadline, ordered workers to pour too much concrete causing the structure to collapse.

No mention of the accident was made in the Belarusian state media or by officials, with the spokesman at the plant first denying anything had happened. In May, the Belarusian energy ministry, however, did confirm an “incident” had occurred during the pouring of concrete, but the “defect” had been dealt with.

“All in all, we are really not satisfied with the process so far, and also we believe this is not just a bilateral problem, it’s a regional [problem] and we would like to internationalize it as much as possible,” Linkevicius said. Lithuania agreed to close its own Ignalina nuclear facility as part of its 2004 accession agreement with the EU.

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said in late July that Vilnius would work with the international community to block the plant coming online if Minsk failed to take steps to ensure international safety standards at the site.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Yukiya Amano has said that the nuclear agency “has worked closely with Belarus on all aspects of this major project and will continue to offer every assistance.” He said with two reactors under construction, Belarus “is one of the most advanced of what the IAEA calls ‘newcomer’ countries.”

A version of this article first appeared on RFE/RL