A certificate issued to Nukem Technologies by the Environment Ministry for construction works of exceptional significance in Lithuania expired on August 24, 2012, Ignalina NPP said.
"All construction or dismantling works at our plant can only be performed after the design documentation has been prepared. It can be prepared by a company that has the status of a designer of construction works of exceptional significance. Since this certificate has expired, at the moment, they (Nukem) cannot prepare design documentation," the plant's spokeswoman, Natalija Survila, told BNS on Friday.
"As far as we know, Nukem has already applied to the Environment Ministry for a new certificate," she added.
Robertas Encius, the director of the Building Products Certification Center, a certificate issuance agency under the Environment Ministry, told BNS that the center considered Nukem's application for a new certificate back in September, but in the light of new circumstances, the commission decided not to grant it and asked for more information.
He said that no certificate has been issued yet.
Encius did not comment on what the new circumstances were, but said that they were "substantial".
"The company has been informed about what they need to prepare. From what they say, I understand that they are going to do this very soon," he told BNS.
The certificate will grant Nukem the right to prepare design documentation for new works. This does not apply to ongoing works at the Ignalina plant.
Nukem Technologies, in consortium with GNS, is building a solid radioactive waste storage facility complex and an interim spent fuel storage facility, initially estimated to cost 123 million euros and 193 million euros, respectively.
