Ignalina Nuclear Plant Stops Power Unit for Maintenance

VILNIUS. Sept 3 (Interfax) – Power Unit 2 of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania was stopped for planned maintenance on Saturday.

“It is planned that the maintenance should be finished by October 9,” the Ignalina plant press service told Interfax.

The plant is not producing power now as the other power unit was put out of operation on December 31, 2004.

Lietuvos Energija, the national energy provider, reported that, while Power Unit 2 at the Ignalina plant undergoes maintenance operations, about half of Lithuania’s energy demand will be covered by national thermal and hydropower plants and the other half will be imported from Russia and Estonia.

Lithuania earlier made a commitment to the European Union to decommission Power Unit 1 at the Ignalina plant by the end of 2004, and it honored this obligation. The Ignalina power plant is to be fully closed down by 2009.