Lithuanian nuclear plant begins shutdown
Published: Dec. 31, 2004 at 3:57 PM
VILNIUS, Lithuania, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- As the year ends, Lithuania begins shutting down its only nuclear power station.
The BBC reports that the country agreed as a condition of joining the European Union to close down the Ignalina plant northeast of the capital, Vilnius, by 2009. Unit One was set to go offline before midnight Friday.
The plant, similar to the one at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, supplies 70 percent of Lithuania's electricity. The EU has promised almost 2 billion euros (about $2.7 billion) in assistance for the transition.
Viktoras Sevaldinas, the Ignalina plant's director, told the BBC that the near meltdown at Chernobyl "cast a shadow over our plant too."
The BBC reports that the country agreed as a condition of joining the European Union to close down the Ignalina plant northeast of the capital, Vilnius, by 2009. Unit One was set to go offline before midnight Friday.
The plant, similar to the one at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, supplies 70 percent of Lithuania's electricity. The EU has promised almost 2 billion euros (about $2.7 billion) in assistance for the transition.
Viktoras Sevaldinas, the Ignalina plant's director, told the BBC that the near meltdown at Chernobyl "cast a shadow over our plant too."
© 2004 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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