Lithuania does not have any operational nuclear power reactor. It operated two RBMK reactors at Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant which were shut down in 2004 and 2009.
In Lithuania in 1978, construction began on two RBMK reactors (1,380 MWe net) with 30-year lives for the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. The light-water, graphite-moderated reactors were of similar design as those at Chernobyl. The nuclear power plant began operating in 1983. The first reactor was decommissioned in 2004 and the second one in 2009. Originally, Lithuania built these reactors to export electricity to its neighbours, with 42% of electricity exported in 1989. This number fell through the 1990s as domestic demand increased. [1]
In 1994, Lithuania accepted US$36.8 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Nuclear Safety Account to improve safety at the Ignalina site. Under the grant, both the reactors had to be closed within 15–20 years. Moreover, in order to join the EU, Lithuania had to decommission one reactor immediately and the second by 2009. The EU agreed to pay for decommissioning costs and some compensation through 2013. Strong public opposition followed, because of fear for electricity price hikes. [1]
In 2006, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian power companies carried out the feasibility study for construction of the new nuclear power plant in Lithuania to replace existing Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, scheduled to be shut down in 2009. The study shows that the nuclear power plant project is feasible. [2]
The Radioactive Waste Management Agency, established in 2001, is responsible for disposal of all radioactive waste from Ignalina during operation and decommissioning. A site near the plant has been identified for storage of low and intermediate-level waste. According to the World Nuclear Association, the Lithuanian government is in the process of building a permanent repository, to be completed in 2015. [1]
On 14 October 2012 an advisory referendum on constructing a new nuclear plant found 62.7% of the participating Lithuanian electorate against and 34.1% for. [3] In 2016 the instigator of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant new build proposal, former energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas, said the proposal was "dead". [4]
Plant name | Unit No. | Type | Model | Status | Capacity (MW) | Begin building | Commercial operation | Closed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ignalina | 1 | LWGR | RBMK-1500 | Shut down/in decommissioning | 1185 | 1 May 1977 | 31 Dec 1983 | 31 Dec 2004 |
2 | LWGR | RBMK-1500 | Shut down/in decommissioning | 1185 | 1 Jan 1978 | Aug 1987 | 31 Dec 2009 | |
3 | LWGR | RBMK-1500 | Unfinished | 1185 |
The RBMK is a class of graphite-moderated nuclear power reactor designed and built by the Soviet Union. It is somewhat like a boiling water reactor as water boils in the pressure tubes. It is one of two power reactor types to enter serial production in the Soviet Union during the 1970s, the other being the VVER reactor. The name refers to its design where instead of a large steel pressure vessel surrounding the entire core, the core is surrounded by a cylindrical annular steel tank inside a concrete vault and each fuel assembly is enclosed in an individual 8 cm (inner) diameter pipe. The channels also contain the coolant, and are surrounded by graphite.
Dry cask storage is a method of storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in a 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 (ChNPP) 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 River.
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 agreement of accession to the European Union. Unit 1 was closed in December 2004; Unit 2 in December 2009. The plant accounted for 25% of Lithuania's electricity generating capacity and supplied about 70% of Lithuania's electrical demand. It was closed on December 31, 2009. Proposals have been made to construct a new nuclear power plant at the site, but such plans have yet to come to fruition.
The electricity sector in Sweden has three operational nuclear power plants with 6 operational nuclear reactors, which produce about 29.8% of the country's electricity. The nation's largest power station, Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant, has three reactors producing 3.3 GW and 14% of Sweden's electricity.
In the United States, nuclear power is provided by 94 commercial reactors with a net capacity of 97 gigawatts (GW), with 63 pressurized water reactors and 31 boiling water reactors. In 2019, they produced a total of 809.41 terawatt-hours of electricity, which accounted for 20% of the nation's total electric energy generation. In 2018, nuclear comprised nearly 50 percent of US emission-free energy generation.
Since the mid 1980s, the largest source of electricity in France has been nuclear power, with a generation of 379.5 TWh in 2019 and a total electricity production of 537.7 TWh. In 2018, the nuclear share was 71.67%, the highest percentage in the world.
Nuclear decommissioning is the process leading to the irreversible complete or partial closure of a nuclear facility, usually a nuclear reactor, with the ultimate aim at termination of the operating licence. The process usually runs according to a decommissioning plan, including the whole or partial dismantling and decontamination of the facility, ideally resulting in restoration of the environment up to greenfield status. The decommissioning plan is fulfilled when the approved end state of the facility has been reached.
Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant ) is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Sosnovy Bor in Russia's Leningrad Oblast, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, some 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the west of the city centre of Saint Petersburg.
The Czech Republic operates two nuclear power plants: Temelín and Dukovany. As of 2019 the government intends to increase the share of nuclear electricity production from 30 % to 58 %. To this end, a new reactor is to be constructed at the Dukovany site, which will replace older units by 2035. New capacities are also expected to be added at the Temelín site.
Nuclear power in Switzerland is generated by three nuclear power plants, with a total of four operational reactors (see list below). Since 1985, nuclear power has been contributing approximately 40% of Switzerland's electrical energy. In 2022, it produced 23 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, and accounted for 37% of the nation's gross electricity generation of 62 TWh, while 55% was produced by hydroelectric plants and 8% came from conventional thermal power stations and non-hydro renewable energy sources.
Spain has five active nuclear power plants with seven reactors producing 20% of the country's electricity as of 2023.
Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant was a planned nuclear power plant project in Lithuania. It was proposed to be built at the site of the closed Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, which was shut down on 31 December 2009 in accordance with Lithuania's accession agreement to the European Union. The two reactors of the Ignalina plant are currently undergoing a decommissioning process.
Nuclear power in the European Union accounted for approximately 26% of total electricity production in 2019 and nearly half of low-carbon energy production across the EU.
The Kaliningrad Nuclear Power Plant (also referred as Baltic Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) or Baltiiskaya NPP, Russian: Калининградская атомная электростанция; Калининградская АЭС [] or Балтийская АЭС []) is a nuclear power plant under construction 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) south-east of Neman, in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is seen as a counter-project to the (later scrapped) plan to build the Visaginas nuclear power plant in Lithuania and is considered not only as an energy, but also as a geopolitical project. Originally intending to commission the reactors in 2016 and 2018, construction was temporarily stopped in June 2013 for the project to be redesigned for lower power output after neighbouring countries showed no interest in importing its electricity. However, the downgrade was later discarded. No export partners materialised as of 2021 and the project remains in stand-by.
Ukraine operates four nuclear power plants with 15 reactors located in Volhynia and South Ukraine. The total installed nuclear power capacity is over 13 GWe, ranking 7th in the world in 2020. Energoatom, a Ukrainian state enterprise, operates all four active nuclear power stations in Ukraine. In 2019, nuclear power supplied over 20% of Ukraine's energy.
Slovakia has five operational nuclear reactors, with a combined net power capacity of 2,308 MWe, with a sixth coming on line shortly. Within the EU, Slovakia is one of the pro-nuclear Visegrád Group nations.
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 to be completed in 2033-2036, 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.