VILNIUS - The International Atomic Energy Agency is ready to send a task group for the evaluation of safety of the second reactor of Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear power plant, the Lietuvos Rytas daily reported on June 29, signifying that the idea of extending the lifetime of the second unit of the nuclear reactor was being discussed on the international level.
The IAEA was to direct a task group of international inspectors for the evaluation of safety of the second reactor provided that Lithuania's government filed a respective application with the agency, said Byung Koo Kim, IAEA director for Europe, Latin America and Western Asia.
Lithuania will have to prove the safe operation of the Soviet-designed and made RBMK reactor.
A favorable assessment of the unit's safety would benefit the Baltic country in its talks with the European Union on the extension of the Ignalina nuclear power plant's operations, a major source of export revenues, for several years.
Meanwhile, the first reactor of the plant will be shut down at the end of this year, in line with pledges to the EU.
The second reactor should be decommissioned in 2009 provided that the EU earmarked sufficient funds for the purpose.
The daily suggests that the statement of Byung Koo Kim has been coordinated with the IAEA's leadership and may be considered an official position of this U.N. organization.
The study conducted by IAEA experts and Baltic energy companies has established that the continuation of operations of Ignalina's second unit until 2017 would boost the reliability of power supply in the Baltic countries and would assure low prices of supply. In the meantime, the Baltic countries should arrange additional storages for natural gas, merge their energy systems with Poland and Finland, curb the consumption of gas for the generation of power and heating and strengthen interlinks in the Baltic region.
Termination of Ignalina's operations in 2017 would result in a significant reduction of costs, said Hans Holger Rogner, an IAEA representative.
Should the second reactor be shut down earlier, the upgrade of other power plants would consume investments of up to 315 million litas (91.3 million euros), while the expenditures on operating and maintaining power plants and fuel would reach approximately 2 billion litas, and the loss of potential revenues would come to 1.3 billion litas.
Construction of a new nuclear power plant would be feasible provided that the installation of 1 kw of capacity cost approximately 4,488 litas, the IAEA noted in its study. In that case the power plant would be capable of competing with other power stations. However, this would occur in 2015 at the earliest.
Earlier reports in March suggested that the government was also considering an appeal to extend operation of the first reactor by one year due to delays in constructing boiler stations that would heat the town of Visaginas.
Decommission of the first reactor by the end of 2004 was one of the conditions Brussels put on the table in its negotiations with Lithuanian on joining the European Union.
In the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, the capacities of the first RBMK reactor in Ignalina were slashed from 1,500 MW to 1,300 MW. The second unit, which was started up in 1987, operated at lower than design capacities as well. Although the capacities of reactors have been curbed, in the winter season they reach 1,350 MW for greater efficiency of turbines.
All reactor installations had been adapted for the 1,500 MW capacity, according to Jurgis Vilemas, head of the Lithuanian Energy Institute. Scientists believe that the capacity could be raised to at least 1,400 MW or, according to the pessimistic scenario, to 1,350 MW both in winter and summer.
