“The process of the facility’s decommissioning, namely, the implementation of B1 and B2 projects, is being disrupted today by disagreements with the contractor, GNS/Nukem. The implementation of the projects runs well behind the schedule. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the donor countries decided last December to suspend funding for the largest INPP decommissioning project due to these problems. As far as I know, the representatives of INPP are negotiating the revocation of the decision to suspend funding in Brussels now,” Butkevičius said after the meeting with INPP executives on Friday.
The Prime Minister’s press service said in a press release that Butkevičius also met with the representatives of Russia’s energy giant Rosatom, the owner of Nukem, while visiting Ignalina facility on Friday.
The news portal delfi.lt reported earlier on Friday that Lithuania would soon set the “final” term for Nukem and would terminate its contract with the company if it failed to meet the deadline.
“We have finally decided today that I will meet with the Energy Minister next week and we will urge once more to meet with Nukem. We will establish a specific deadline for the modifications, specifications to be submitted. If they [the documents] are not submitted by that deadline, in my personal opinion, we will probably have to terminate the contract,” the news portal quoted Butkevičius as saying.
A consortium of Nukem Technologies and GNS is implementing multi-billion-litas decommissioning projects at the Ignalina plant, which are running years behind schedule. The companies are 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.
