VILNIUS - The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant completed installation of a new steam boiler house last week, the first post-shutdown project funded by international donors.
The 6 million euro steam boiler house will generate steam used for processing liquid waste, the wash-house and air conditioning system. The boiler house will continue fulfilling these core functions after the complete shutdown of INPP, which is expected in 2009.
"We are satisfied with the functioning of the boiler house. So far we have tried the run with liquid fuel. In August we will try out natural gas as Lietuvos Dujos [Lithuanian Gas] will complete laying the gas pipeline to Visaginas. This week we are making arrangements for commissioning documentation," said Viktor Shevaldin, INPP's CEO.
The boiler house will receive a true workout this fall when for 36 days it will become the plant's sole operating unit as the one remaining atomic reactor will shut down for scheduled maintenance. Later, when the atomic unit is restarted, the boiler house will operate in standby mode.
The general contractor for the construction of the boiler house was SNC Lavalin-Megadex, the Polish unit of the Canadian engineering concern, SNC Lavalin Group. SNC Lavalin-Megadex is also engaged in the construction of the new combined heat-and-power plant in Visaginas, which is expected to be completed in the fall.
Ignalina's RMBK nuclear reactors are of the same basic design as those at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and are therefore considered unsafe by Western experts. Lithuania shut down Ignalina's first unit on Dec. 31, 2004 in accordance to its accession agreement with the European Union. The second and the last unit of the plant should be closed in December 2009.
In the meantime, Lithuanian officials are lobbying Western governments to finance the construction of a new nuclear power plant so that the country can continue exporting electricity.
The European Commission in Brussels approved assistance of 319 million euros for INPP shutdown projects for 2004-2006. A share of these funds has been transferred to the International Ignalina Decommissioning Support Fund, which is administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and currently holds roughly 340 million euros, including accrued interest.
