nuclear-news

Lithuanian nuclear plant: decommissioning stalled due to company disputes

EU freezes Lithuanian nuclear plant decommissioning funds, EurActive 14 Dec 12 The European Commission announced yesterday (13 December) that international donors, among which the largest is the EU, have decided to suspend the funding of one specific decommissioning project in the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania. The project covers the construction of the storage area for the leftover spent fuel and the supply of storage casks for defueling the central’s two reactors.

The decision was taken on the grounds that the operator of the power plant (INPP) and the consortium delivering the project (GNS/NUKEM) have not managed to settle their dispute, now on-going for more than two years, on how to implement the project concretely. Nukem is a “dual national” company based in Germany (NUKEM GmbH) and the United States (NUKEM, Inc.) focused on the civil nuclear fuel market.

As the two reactor units can only be fully dismantled once the spent
fuel is stored safely outside the reactors, a delay of the storage
facility can lead to significant delays in the overall decommissioning
process.

Lithuania has reportedly expressed doubts for quite some time
regarding the safety of the containers provided by NUKEM.

In its press release, the EU Commission, as one of the main
contributors to the International Decommissioning Support Fund, urges
both parties to agree on the implementation as a matter of urgency.
The Commission expresses the hope that the suspension of funds will
accelerate the settlement……
http://www.euractiv.com/energy/eu-suspends-funding-ignalina-nuc-news-516681

December 15, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, EUROPE