Ignalina IDSF

Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund

Lithuania has one nuclear power plant with two units at Ignalina. Both units are Soviet-designed RBMK 1500 reactors and have been subject to thorough safety examinations by international experts, including one NSA -funded assessment project. According to the findings of the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association, the main risk of accidents is associated with generic design flaws of the RBMK reactors and the absence of a confinement. This deficiency cannot technically be eliminated nor can the plant be brought up to a safety level comparable to that of western European reactors.

Closure commitments

As a result of the political dialogue leading up to EU enlargement, Lithuania agreed to the early closure of its RBMK 1500 reactors: it committed to close Ignalina 1 before 2005 and unit 2 by the end of 2008. Igualina 1 was closed in December 2004.

To assist Lithuania with the decommissioning process, the European Community together with ten European countries set up the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund (IIDSF) in 2001 at the EBRD.  

Scope of the fund

The IIDSF became operational in the autumn of 2001 on the basis of a Framework Agreement of 5 April 2001, which was signed between the Republic of Lithuania and the EBRD by the approval of the Assembly of Contributors and ratified by the Lithuanian Parliament. More than EUR 334 million has been committed in controbutions from the European Community, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Grant financing is being allocated as follows:

• In support of the decommissioning works at units 1 and 2 through financing and co-financing the construction of facilities for storage and treatment of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste and other decommissioning related projects
• In assistance with the transformation of the energy sector through funding new measures which will improve the efficiency of energy supply and use in Lithuania after the closure of units 1 and 2

Decommissioning projects

A contract for the construction of an interim spent fuel storage facility was signed in 2004. The tender process for a solid radioactive management facility is ongoing.

IIDSF has also financed new boiler stationsfor the plant and the nearby town of Visaginas as a substitute source of steam and heat in place of Ignalina 1. The stations along with the rehabilitation and extension of district heat-and-steam pipeworks will be completed by Summer 2005 in parallel with a new gas pipeline to Visaginas and the Ignalina site.

In addition, the IIDSF has helped in the preparation of the final decommissioning plan and safety analysis report for Ignalina units 1 and 2, including an environmental impact assessment and documentation for the final shutdown and de-fuelling phase.

Energy sector projects

In 2002, the Lithuanian parliament adopted a National Energy Strategy for the reform of Lithuania's 'limited energy resources and their in-efficient use and conservation'. The strategy promotes the increase of energy efficiency through a reliable, secure and environmentally-friendly energy supply at minimum cost. The IIDSF energy support package has been developed in line with the same strategy to provide financial assistance for Lithuania's energy sector after the closure of the Ignalina power plant. It covers the cost of equipment, works and services leading up to the implementation of new energy conservation measures in areas of energy production and consumption. The objective is to increase the level of reliability and efficiency of energy use in Lithuania.

In 2003, IIDSF provided grant financing for the update of aleast-cost plan for the Lithuanian power sector which attached highest priority to the energy efficiency status of the Lithuanian Thermal Power Plant (LTPP). As a result, the Fund's Assembly of Contributors agreed to co-finance the recommended improvements of the Plant with an IIDSF grant. The objective of the project is to upgrade the LTPP to an environmentally sound power-generating source which will continue to meet 65% of Lithuania’s power demand after the closure of Ignalina, in compliance with EU environmental regulations.

The project scope, time schedule and cost estimates, developed through Swedish assistance programmes, have already been agreed and, according to current planning, the IIDSF grant will be complemented by an EBRD loan, commercial loans from Lithuanian banks and the utilities own resources.