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Dry cask storage is a method of storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in the spent fuel pool for at least one year and often as much as ten years. Casks are typically steel cylinders that are either welded or bolted closed. The fuel rods inside are surrounded by inert gas. Ideally, the steel cylinder provides leak-tight containment of the spent fuel. Each cylinder is surrounded by additional steel, concrete, or other material to provide radiation shielding to workers and members of the public.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine, 16.5 kilometers (10 mi) northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 16 kilometers (10 mi) from the Belarus–Ukraine border, and about 100 kilometers (62 mi) north of Kyiv. The plant was cooled by an engineered pond, fed by the Pripyat River about 5 kilometers (3 mi) northwest from its juncture with the Dnieper.
The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant is a decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant's similarities to the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in both reactor design and lack of a robust containment building, Lithuania agreed to close the plant as part of its accession agreement to the European Union. Unit 1 was closed in December 2004; Unit 2, which counted for 25% of Lithuania's electricity generating capacity and supplied about 70% of Lithuania's electrical demand, was closed on December 31, 2009. Proposals have been made to construct a new nuclear power plant at the site, but no such plan has yet come to fruition.
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National nuclear energy policy is a national policy concerning some or all aspects of nuclear energy, such as mining for nuclear fuel, extraction and processing of nuclear fuel from the ore, generating electricity by nuclear power, enriching and storing spent nuclear fuel and nuclear fuel reprocessing. Nuclear energy policies often include the regulation of energy use and standards relating to the nuclear fuel cycle.
Slovakia has five operational nuclear reactors, with a combined net power capacity of 2,308 MWe, with a sixth coming on line shortly.
Poland currently operates a single research reactor, Maria. It has no operational nuclear reactors for power production, but is to start construction of a plant with three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors in 2026, and is also intending to build small modular reactors.
NUKEM Technologies GmbH is a nuclear engineering and consulting company managing radioactive waste and spent fuel and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The company is located in Alzenau, Germany. It was established in 2006 as a subsidiary of Nukem Energy. On 14 December 2009, Nukem Technologies was sold to Russian Atomstroyexport for €23.5 million.
Lithuania is a net energy importer. In 2019 Lithuania used around 11.4 TWh of electricity after producing just 3.6 TWh.
References
- 1 2 3 “Nuclear Power in Lithuania.” World Nuclear Association. February 2008. < "Nuclear Power in Lithuania | Lithuanian Nuclear Energy". Archived from the original on 2011-03-19. Retrieved 2011-03-16.>
- ↑ "Nuclear Power Plant Project in Lithuania is Feasible. Press release". Lietuvos Energija. 2006-10-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ↑ "Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant". Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ↑ "Lithuania's ex-minister: Visaginas NPP plant project dead". The Baltic Course. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2018.