Post by kaima on Dec 31, 2009 1:34:48 GMT -7
This is hard for me to imagine; I remember how important this plant is for the country!
Lithuania to shut its only nuclear power station
By Gabriel Gatehouse
BBC News
Lithuania is to shut down its one and only nuclear power station in Visaginas on 31 December.
One hour before midnight, staff at the Ignalina plant will flick the switches, shutting down the only nuclear reactor in the Baltic states.
The closure of the Soviet-era plant was a condition of Lithuania's membership of the European Union.
The move will mean an increase in power prices for Lithuanians and more reliance on Russia for energy supplies.
'Minute risk'
The facility was opened 26 years ago, when Lithuania was still part of the former Soviet Union.
It was built to the same design as Chernobyl, which was behind the worst civil nuclear disaster in history when one of its reactors overheated in 1986.
Brussels is insisting the place be closed down, and has allocated around 820m euro (£731m) to cover part of the costs of decommissioning the plant.
But critics say that Ignalina still has another 10 to 15 years of life in it and that the risks of an accident are minute.
The plant currently supplies up to 80% of Lithuania's electric power.
The shut-down will mean higher electricity bills at a time when the country's economy is shrinking rapidly.
It will also mean that, fewer than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lithuania will once again become dependent on Moscow for much of its energy supply.
Lithuania to shut its only nuclear power station
By Gabriel Gatehouse
BBC News
Lithuania is to shut down its one and only nuclear power station in Visaginas on 31 December.
One hour before midnight, staff at the Ignalina plant will flick the switches, shutting down the only nuclear reactor in the Baltic states.
The closure of the Soviet-era plant was a condition of Lithuania's membership of the European Union.
The move will mean an increase in power prices for Lithuanians and more reliance on Russia for energy supplies.
'Minute risk'
The facility was opened 26 years ago, when Lithuania was still part of the former Soviet Union.
It was built to the same design as Chernobyl, which was behind the worst civil nuclear disaster in history when one of its reactors overheated in 1986.
Brussels is insisting the place be closed down, and has allocated around 820m euro (£731m) to cover part of the costs of decommissioning the plant.
But critics say that Ignalina still has another 10 to 15 years of life in it and that the risks of an accident are minute.
The plant currently supplies up to 80% of Lithuania's electric power.
The shut-down will mean higher electricity bills at a time when the country's economy is shrinking rapidly.
It will also mean that, fewer than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lithuania will once again become dependent on Moscow for much of its energy supply.
