The famous Ignalina NPP was built in Lithuania during the Soviet era. It was originally supposed to use 6 power units, each of which would have an energy capacity of 1185-1380 MW. However, the project was never implemented for various reasons. Let's see why it was not possible to build this power plant and what Ignalina NPP looks like today.
Construction and plans
The construction of the station began in 1974. In parallel with it, a town was built where the employees serving this huge enterprise would have to live. So, the very first energy block was launched on December 31, 1983. In 1987, the second block was commissioned. In total, they planned to build 4 reactors, and in the future - another 2. The third of them was laid in 1985. However, it was never built. As for the fourth power unit, it generally remained only in plans.
It is likely that if it were not for the so-called perestroika, then all the reactors would have been put into operation, and Lithuania would have “bathed” in cheap electricity, but the project was finally closed when Lithuania joined the EU. It is unfortunate, since this nuclear power plant was equipped with the most powerful water-graphite reactors at that time, which provided high energy power.
Prospects for the work of Ignalina NPP
They were truly rainbow. You can talk endlessly about the prospects of this power plant. Thanks to her, Lithuania received very cheap electricity in huge quantities. The country needs only 10 billion kWh per year. However, two working units produced a total of 12.26 billion kWh of electricity over the same period of time. In general, taking into account other hydroelectric power stations and wind turbines, the country had 13.9 kWh per year. Consequently, 3.9 kW / h of electricity could be sold to neighboring countries. Imagine how many times the country's energy capacity increased if the third and fourth energy blocks were built!
In addition to cheap electricity for the population and production, as well as the ability to fill your budget with currency from the sale of extra kWh, the country could receive huge investments in industry. After all, large financiers are always looking for convenient countries with cheap electricity. Lithuania in this case is an ideal platform. What can we say about the political dividends that a country would receive from countries that are energy-dependent on it. Unfortunately, all this was lost, and today in Lithuania Ignalina NPP practically does not work.
Sound reasons for closing
After the collapse of the USSR, the Lithuanian Government and the population raved about the idea of joining the EU. One of the conditions was the closure of Ignalina NPP in order to ensure safety. The fact is that reactors that were structurally similar to the Chernobyl reactors were used at this power plant. Although the Ignalina NPP was one of the safest stations, according to the IAEA, the EU demanded to close it. Otherwise, membership in this organization would be impossible.
The Lithuanian government agreed to these conditions and decided to stop the station. In 2004, the first block was discontinued, and in 2009 the second. Lithuania has fully complied with the conditions for obtaining EU membership, however, the process of complete shutdown and deactivation of power units is still ongoing, and its completion is scheduled for 2034.
The real reasons for closing
Many experts believe that the real reason for the closure of the INPP was the reluctance of EU leaders to have a strong member in the European Union, which would become a full member along with the leaders. After the closure of the power plant, Lithuania was forced to buy expensive energy resources abroad, and its budget began to be filled with new money.
As a result, it has become an EU dependent country, which, if necessary, may accept conditions that are obviously unfavorable to it to please other EU states. But if Lithuania had such a solid tool to attract investment and capital to the budget, the government would behave differently.
INPP today
What the facility looks like today can be seen in the photo of the Ignalina NPP posted in this article. Unfortunately, today it does not produce electricity and is at a stopping stage. The fact is that shutting down a power plant is a complex and lengthy process. You can’t just hang the lock on the gate, because nuclear fuel needs care.
As of January 20, 2017, 1991 people worked at the station. All of them carry out work related to the storage of spent nuclear fuel, decontaminate and dismantle the equipment that remains at the nuclear power plant, and create burial grounds for short-lived low-level waste.
The estimated completion date for all work is August 2034. Until this time, the dismantling of the reactor plants of the first and second blocks should be carried out.