Spent Nuclear Fuel Removed from Lithuania's Ignalina Power Plant

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The last used fuel assembly from the Unit 2 reactor at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) in Lithuania has been removed to the new on-site radioactive waste facility.

It marks a milestone in the decommissioning of units 1 and 2 of the old plant, which was once considered one of the most dangerous nuclear power stations in Europe as it used two RBMK-1500 reactors, the same Russian-made reactors used at Chernobyl in Ukraine, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986. Lithuania agreed to shut the plant in 2009 as part of its accession to the European Union (EU). After the final shutdown of Unit 2 in 2009, a small amount of fuel was removed, but the majority was left untouched until the recent completion of the of the Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility (ISFSF).

"Considering the highest priority of fuel unloading operations, Ignalina NPP unloaded 1,134 fuel assemblies from the reactor in a very short time, while the smooth work of the INPP personnel allowed not only to complete these works 15 months in advance of the deadline date, but also to ensure compliance with the most stringent safety requirements", stated INPP.

The CONSTOR RBMK-1500/M2 storage casks for the spent nuclear fuel are reinforced concrete casks, each of which is 4.5 metres high and 2.7 metres in diameter.

In 2016, Industrial Info reported that a permit from the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (Vatesi) allowed hot trials of 10 new storage casks that would store some of the 16,000 used fuel rods from the reactors. About 190 casks will be needed to store them all for up to 50 years, and each filled cask will weigh 118 tonnes. Last summer, hot trials took place at the waste facility. For additional information, see September 29, 2016, article - Decommissioning Can Begin at Ignalina Nuclear Plant and June 19, 2017, article - Hot Trials Under Way at Nuclear Waste Facility in Lithuania.

The design and construction of Ignalina's new Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility is financially supported by the EBRD-managed Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund (IIDSF). The EU is by far the biggest contributor to the IIDSF, which has provided 96% of the contributions.

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