Lithuania's Nuclear Hopes Revived

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Lithuania's derailed nuclear plans have been kicked back on track following two proposals by nuclear reactor manufacturers.

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Monroeville, Pennsylvania) and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Limited (Hitachi, Japan) have separately submitted bids to replace the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which was shut down in 2009 as part of the country's conditions for entering the European Union (E.U.). Details are scarce, but Westinghouse is proposing its AP1000 reactor design for the project. The Lithuanian Energy Ministry confirmed that "competitive proposals from potential strategic investors" have been received for the new Visaginas plant, which will have a potential generating capacity of up to 3,400 MW. A decision is expected in the coming months.

Lithuania's nuclear power revival was going strong last year when it had two other proposals, but by December the final bidder had dropped out. South Korea's Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) (KEPCO) (Seoul, South Korea) pulled out of the tender process in December while one other unnamed bidder withdrew earlier as its bid did not meet specifications.

"Westinghouse Electric Company can confirm that it has made a proposal regarding the planned nuclear new build project for the Visaginas site in the Republic of Lithuania," the company stated. "Westinghouse sees Lithuania as an important market because it is a mature market with significant nuclear experience, and this project has a strategic significance across the whole Baltic Region."

"This is a competitive situation, and we do not propose to disclose any details of our commercial proposition at this stage. However we believe we have made a strong commercial proposal, which offers the right technology (AP1000) under the right commercial conditions. The AP1000 reactor is the only Generation III+ design close to being fully licensed in both the U.S. and the E.U.."

Speaking with the press, Lithuania's Prime Minister, Andrius Kubilius, commented: "For Lithuania and the whole region it is important to have independent capacity to generate electricity. Different countries have different solutions to these issues. We are choosing a path that we believe is the best for Lithuania and for the whole region."

Prior to its closure, the Ignalina plant supplied up to 70% of Lithuania's electricity. The new Visaginas plant, located near Ignalina, is designed to allow the country and its neighbours and project partners, Poland, Latvia and Estonia, to reduce their energy dependence on Russia.

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