The father of a man sentenced to death for killing a journalist was threatening Wednesday evening to blow up a nuclear reactor at the Ignalina Atomic Energy Station in Lithuania, according to a report on the NTV news show Segodnya.


Citing their own sources, NTV said one of the plant's reactors was shut down, security tripled and a team of dogs dispatched to sniff the premises for explosive devices. According to NTV, Lithuanian Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius said that there was no basis for concern and that the plant's security was adequate. The reactor, a Chernobyl-style power plant, is about 160 kilometers north of Vilnius.


"Threats against nuclear power stations must always be taken seriously," Vilius Kavalyauskas, a press spokesmen for the Lithuanian government, told The Associated Press. The 1,500 megawatt reactor was undergoing a safety check by Swedish experts, AP reported.


NTV said Monday night that Georgy Dekanidze, a resident of the Lithuanian town of Alitos, was allegedly threatening to blow up the reactor in response to a court decision that sentenced his son, Boris, to death for the killing of a Lithuanian journalist, Vitas Lingys.


Reuters, citing German radio, reported that Boris Dekanidze was a mafia boss and that the threat had set an ultimatum for Tuesday, two days before he is due to be executed.


Lingys, a top Lithuanian journalist, had written a series of articles exposing Lithuania's mafia. Prosecutors said Dekanidze had Lingys shot for articles exposing extortion rackets run by the his gang, according to AP.