Lithuania hopes to persuade Belarus to stop nuclear plant construction
Lithuania hopes to persuade Belarus to abandon the construction of its own nuclear power plant on the border with Lithuania in return for cooperation in the sphere of nuclear energy. On July 12, it was declared by Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.
“Seeking this cooperation, Lithuania could convince Belarus in that it is “not wise” to build power plant on Belarus-Lithuania border, When we implement our plans to construct our own plant in decisive way, and do not hesitate, we will consult with our neighbors, go forward with our plans step by step, perhaps, our neighbors’ plans to change then. But to achieve this, we should not let the misunderstanding of our plans be”, Lithuanian prime minister said.
In the Baltic region, four states at the time plan to build their own nuclear power plants – Lithuania, Belarus, Poland and Russia. However, Lithuania is sharply against nuclear plant construction in Belarus. Lithuanian authorities, experts and society have expressed their concern that in the case of accident at a future nuclear plant, the territory of Lithuania can be contaminated by 80%, and Vilnius will be destroyed at all. The construction of nuclear power plant was named at public hearings in Lithuania as “genocide of the Lithuanian people”, BelaPAN informs.
At the same time, the work to construct nuclear power plant in Lithuania is going on. Andrius Kubilius expressed his confidence that before the beginning of next year there would be found a strategic investor, and then the construction to begin “together with the Latvians, Estonians and Poles”.
Source: Telegraf
Putin, Kubilius discuss energy concerns
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| The Russian prime minister met with his Lithuanian counterpart in Moscow, where the two discussed energy concerns. (Photo: www.kremlin.ru) |
Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have discussed energy issues at the first meeting between the heads of government of the neighboring countries in 6 years.
Kubilius used the opportunity to suggest that Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom should “modernize” its pricing policy.
“It‘s important to talk about gas supply. We are observing global tendencies in the gas industry development accurately. We think, that Gazprom will also consider the global gas industry development by modernising its pricing policy,” he said.
The meeting comes as energy concerns between the two countries reach an apex. Gazprom recently sent a letter to the Lithuanian government demanding compensation for losses on the sale of a Kaunas power facility. The two countries are also at odds over the construction of a new nuclear power plant in the region, with Kaliningrad and Ignalina both planning construction.
“I have heard that colleagues are concerned about the nuclear energy development in Kaliningrad. We are ready to discuss it and give the answers and explanations to all your questions,” Putin said.
Kubilius also said he aims to enhance energy security by looking to alternative resources such as liquefied natural gas.
Source: The Baltic Times
Ignalina power plant issued a license to build waste facility
Lithuania’s shut down Ignalina nuclear power plant has been issued a licence by the country’s nuclear regulator to construct a very low-level radioactive waste facility at the site. This waste will include slightly-contaminated soil, rubble, metal, wood and paper from the plant.
Under the licence, issued by the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (Vatesi), the Ignalina plant will be authorized to construct a very low-level waste (VLLW) buffer storage facility, to install monitoring and measurement systems, as well as transportation and storage systems of radioactive waste.
A total of some 60,000 cubic metres (m3) of VLLW is expected to be generated through the operation and decommissioning of the Ignalina plant. Most of the waste will be retrieved from existing storage facilities, but later will be from the dismantling and decontamination of the Ignalina reactors.
The new on-site buffer storage facility, expected to begin operating in 2011, will have the capacity to store up to 4000 m3 of VLLW. Approximately every two years, when the facility is full, the waste will be transferred to a special VLLW repository and the storage facility refilled. The buffer storage facility is expected to operate for some for 30 years, after which it will be dismantled. In the repository, packages of VLLW will be placed closely together on a concrete base. They will then be covered by several layers of artificial and natural materials for protection against penetration by water, animals and plant roots.
The repository – consisting of three modules each with a capacity of 20,000 m3 – is planned to be located close to the new used fuel storage facility and the solid radioactive waste treatment and storage facility.
The construction licence was issued to the Ignalina plant under certain conditions. These include the requirement that the plant prepares the procedures for later moving the waste from the VLLW facility to the repository and to ensure that staff our properly trained. In addition, Ignalina must ensure that there is sufficient fire protection.
The licence for the VLLW facility is the third issued to Ignalina by Vatesi for construction of radioactive waste facilities. In August 2009, Vatesi issued the Ignalina plant with a licence to build solid radioactive waste treatment and storage facilities at the site. The following month, it issued a licence to construct an interim storage facility for used RBMK-1500 fuel from units 1 and 2.
The used fuel storage facility is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011 and will store the bulk of the used fuel that has accumulated over the course of the plant’s operation. Some 18,000 fuel assemblies from Ignalina 1 and 2 will be stored in a total of 202 metal and concrete Constor containers at the facility for fifty years.
The solid waste facilities – scheduled to be commissioned in 2012 – will handle all solid radioactive waste from the operation and decommissioning of the Ignalina plant that has provided almost 70% of the country’s power. They will be used for characterization, classification, processing, and storage of solid radioactive waste accumulating in the course of operation and decommissioning of the plant. The solid waste will be stored at the facility for fifty years.
Lithuania agreed to close the Soviet-design Ignalina plant as a condition to its entry into the European Union. Unit 1 of the Ignalina plant was shut at the end of 2004, while Unit 2 shut at the end of 2009. The EU has agreed to pay decommissioning costs for the two RBMK reactors and some compensation through to 2013.
Source: World Nuclear News
Introducing the European Nuclear Safety Training and Tutoring Institute (ENSTTI)
Four national technical safety organizations have announced the creation of a European Nuclear Safety Training and Tutoring Institute (ENSTTI) to help strengthen European research and assessment know-how in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection.
The new institute is a joint initiative of France’s Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, IRSN); Germany’s Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS); the Nuclear Research Institute Rez (UJV) of the Czech Republic; and the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI).
ENSTTI will offer short applied training sessions of around six weeks, as well as longer courses of several months, for university graduates and those with some professional experience in the nuclear sector. It will provide training in techniques, practices and methods to develop the skills and know-how required for assessing and analysing nuclear and radiological risks in Europe and throughout the world. All the course programs will include working groups, simulator sessions, technical visits and open discussions.
In creating ENSTTI, the founding technical safety organizations – in association with the relevant EU and international bodies and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in particular – aim to meet assessment and research requirements in the nuclear safety sector relating to civil nuclear development programs in Europe and around the world.
ENSTTI’s scientific council has been assigned the task of guiding and standardizing teaching and tutoring content and practices to reflect the state of the art in European assessment know-how.
The first training session has already been scheduled and is divided into two parts. The first will take place at GRS in Munich from 12-30 July and the second part will be organized at IRSN in Fontenay-aux-Roses from 30 August to 17 September. Registration for the first session will open on 15 March and will close at the end of April.
Source: World Nuclear News
Canadian government supports AECL in Lithuanian reactor bid
May 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under AECL, Areva, Canada, Companies, Lithuania, Toshiba Nuclear Energy Corp., Westinghouse Electric Company
The Canadian government on Monday backed state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) in its bid to supply nuclear reactors to Lithuania, after the Baltic state shuts down its Soviet-era reactor at end-2009.
French Areva and U.S.-based Westinghouse, owned by Japanese Toshiba Corp , are seen as the two main competitors at the tender, which Lithuania plans to announce next year.
“I do believe that CANDU reactors offer very favorable solutions..,” Stockwell Day, Canada’s minister of international trade, told a news conference after meeting with Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.
Ala Alizadeh, the vice-president of AECL, who accompanied the minister on the trip, told Reuters the company was offering Lithuania its 700-megawatts enhanced CANDU 6 reactor, which can be built in 54 months.
He also said the reactor’s size was the most suitable for the Baltic state given the country’s power grid and its plans to link with the western European electricity system.
Lithuania government has said it wants to build a new nuclear reactor by 2018 in cooperation with neighbours Latvia, Estonia and Poland, to reduce energy dependence on Russia.
The Canadian minister was also travelling to Romania this week to continue talks on selling another two Canadian-made reactors, with the deal expected to be closed within 12-18 months. Romania put online CANDU reactor in 2007.
Source: Reuters
