At a meeting of the Ignalina Programme Monitoring Committee, chaired by Albinas Zananavičius, Vice-Minister of Energy, and Massimo Garribba, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, held at the Ministry of Energy, representatives of INPP presented the progress of the radioactive waste management, dismantling and decontamination processes, the course of the main projects, and the most important achievements in the second half of the previous year.
The Committee members congratulated INPP on the successful signing of contracts for design services for the dismantling of graphite reactor technology, unparalleled in the world. The Committee also acknowledged one of the most important achievements of INPP decommissioning, i.e. the safe management of all INPP nuclear (fissile) material following the removal of all the unused (fresh) nuclear fuel to the New Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility. The Committee was also briefed on the planned INPP solar power plant project, which is expected to reduce the company’s electricity costs, and other operational and resource efficiency measures. The meeting reviewed the funding provided by Lithuania for the decommissioning of INPP and discussed other relevant issues related to the management of the Ignalina Programme.
Vice-Minister Albinas Zananavičius highlighted the importance of the funds allocated by the European Union to the Ignalina Programme and of Lithuania’s stable national funding, and stressed that close cooperation between the European Commission and the Lithuanian authorities remains crucial for the successful implementation of the Ignalina Programme, especially at a time when INPP decommissioning has reached its most important and technologically challenging stage of implementation.
The co-chairs of the Committee pointed out that at this stage of programme works, it is essential to join efforts to ensure control of the planned decommissioning schedule and budget as well as effective risk management.
The Committee is the supervisory and management body for the Ignalina Programme, which provides the European Union funds for the decommissioning of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. The Committee also includes representatives of the authorised bodies of the Ignalina Programme – the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Public Institution Central Project Management Agency.
