The Latvian government is ready to start working on a national position on nuclear energy, potentially in cooperation with countries including Estonia, economy minister Janis Vitenbergs told a conference.

Mr Vitenbergs and defence minister Artis Pabriks expressed their political support for the development of nuclear energy in Latvia, arguing that renewables alone may not be a sufficient source of energy and that nuclear can provide energy independence.

Latvia has no nuclear power plant or nuclear fuel-cycle facility. It has one pool type 5-MW IRT research reactor – the Salaspils Research Reactor – which has been permanently shut down since 1998 and is being decommissioned. Latvia also operates a disposal site for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, 30 km from the capital, Riga.