Lithuania has already spent 51.2 million euros on projects aimed at decommissioning the first unit of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) closed late in 2004. Direct European Union (EU) support for the projects made up some 29 million euros in two years.
The overall amount excludes the support extended by the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund (IIDSF), administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which funds the decommissioning projects independently via direct payments to contractors or suppliers.
The EU support for the maintenance of the first unit made up 17 million euros, while the support for decommissioning projects amounted to 11.6 million euros in 2005-2007 (including the funds approved for full 2007), Eugenijus Grumskas, economics and finance director of INPP, told BNS.
Moreover, INPP received 22.6 million euros from the National INPP Decommissioning Fund to maintain the first unit in the reporting period. The first unit of INPP was shut down on Dec. 31, 2004, in line with Lithuania's commitments to the EU. Some 50 million litas are required annually for the maintenance and decommissioning of the first unit, which is expected to be dismantled and razed to the ground by 2030