Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant

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Data
Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant

Country	Lithuania
Operator	Republic of Lithuania
Built	1974
Start of commercial operation	May 1, 1984
Reactors
Reactors active	1 (1360 MW)
Reactors shut down	1 (1360 MW)
Power
Capacity	MW
Total power generation in 2006	7,945 GWh
Average annual generation (last 5 yrs)	7,413 GWh
Net generation	213,338 GWh
Other details
As of July 25, 2007

Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant is a two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas, Lithuania. It is named after a larger nearby town Ignalina. Unit #1 was closed in December 2004, as a condition of Lithuania's entry into the European Union; the plant is similar to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in its lack of a robust containment structure. The remaining unit, as of 2006, supplied about 70% of Lithuania's electrical demand.^[1] Unit #2 is tentatively scheduled for closure in 2009. Proposals have been made to construct another nuclear power plant at the same site.

1 Reactors
2 History
3 Closedown
4 New units
5 Footnotes
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Reactors

The Ignalina nuclear power plant contains two RBMK-1500 water-cooled graphite-moderated channel-type power reactors. The Soviet-designed RBMK-1500 reactor is the most powerful reactor in the world with the electrical power capacity of 1500 MWe (the new EPR under construction at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant, Finland will be bigger at 1600 MWe). After the Chernobyl accident they were de-rated to 1360 MWe. These are of a similar type of reactor (RBMK-1000) as at the Chernobyl power plant, hence the European Union's insistence on closing them.

Unit #1 came online in 1983, and was closed on December 31, 2004. Unit #2 came online in 1987 and is expected to close in 2009. Unit #3 and #4 were never finished.

[edit] History

Ignalina RBMK reactor tube tops

Preparations for the construction started in 1974. The field work started four years later. In 1986 Unit #2 was completed. Originally, Unit #2 was scheduled for launch in 1986, but its commissioning was postponed for a year because of the Chernobyl accident. Also, the construction of Unit #3 was suspended and in 1989 it began to be demolished. Visaginas town was artificially built to accommodate people who work at the plant. There was no village at that place and it is one of the most prominent examples of what is called "greenfields investment", a situation when a large plant, town, or other industrial object is build in an empty field with no prior infrastructure. The location was chosen next to the biggest lake in Lithuania, Drūkšiai, to provide water to cool the pipes. A part of this lake is now shared with Belarus. Some environmental activists are afraid that the lake is too small for such a powerful plant and say that the average water temperature increased by a few degrees Celsius. This might have negative consequences on the lake ecosystem.

[edit] Closedown

As a condition of entry into the European Union, Lithuania agreed to close existing units of the station. Prior to the closure of Unit #1, and even allowing for de-rating of the station, the plant supplied 80% of Lithuania's electricity. Lithuania together with France are two countries that are most dependent on nuclear power. The European Union agreed to pay substantial decommissioning costs and compensation, with payments continuing until 2013.

Closing of the plant faced fierce opposition from the Lithuanian people. The plant provides income to most of the local people. To compensate for this, a project was started to encourage tourism and other small businesses. Others were afraid that the price of electricity would skyrocket or that Lithuania would be left to cope with gigantic costs of decommisioning the plant and the nuclear waste.

[edit] New units

It has been suggested that Visaginas nuclear power plant be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

This article or section contains information about a planned or proposed power plant, or power plant under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the construction and/or completion of the power plant approaches, and more information becomes available.

There were discussion during the 1990s and 2000s of building a new nuclear power plant at the same site, forestalling the likelihood of an upcoming power shortage in the region. In February 2007, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus told visiting journalists that "There is an agreement between Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland to secure energy independence building more than one nuclear reactor." According to Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, the deal would be finalized by mid-2008, with operation beginning in 2015. The new plant's capacity is estimated at 3,200 megawatts, at a cost of 5-6 billion euros.^[2] On 28 June 2007, Lithuania's parliament adopted a law on building a new nuclear power plant, the formal start of a project.^[3] However, the project is now seen as controversial, for private capital became involved in it on vague circumstances. The talks between the government and privately owned NDX Energija on the establishment of the "national investor" company started on 30 November 2007. The creation of the national investor—LEO LT—was agreed between the Government of Lithuania and NDX Energija on 20 December 2007.^[4] Lithuanian Parliament approved the agreement on 1 February 2008 and the Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus signed the law on 12 February 2008.^[5]^[6]