Concept
The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Ignalinos atominė elektrinė, IAE) is a decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant's similarities to the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in both reactor design and lack of a robust containment building, Lithuania agreed to close the plant as part of its accession agreement to the European Union. Unit 1 was closed in December 2004; Unit 2, which counted for 25% of Lithuania's electricity generating capacity and supplied about 70% of Lithuania's electrical demand, was closed on December 31, 2009. Proposals have been made to construct a new nuclear power plant at the same site, but plans have not materialised since then. The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant contained two Soviet-designed RBMK-1500 water-cooled graphite-moderated channel-type power reactors. After the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986, the reactor was de-rated to 1,360 MW. Each unit of the power plant was equipped with two K-750-65/3000 turbines with 800 MW generators. The Soviet Union intended Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant as a symbol of its technology. Preparations for the construction began in 1974. Field work began four years later. Unit 1 came online in December 1983, and was closed on December 31, 2004. Unit 2 came online in August 1987 and was closed on December 31, 2009 at 23:00 EET (21:00 UTC). Originally, Unit 2 was scheduled for launch in 1986, but its commissioning was postponed for a year because of the Chernobyl disaster that year. The construction of Unit 3 started in 1985, but was suspended in 1988, and its demolition began in 1989. Its dismantling was completed in 2008. The town of Visaginas was built to accommodate Ignalina's workers. About 5,000 people worked at the plant, which produced 70% of the country's electricity and exported power to elsewhere in the Soviet Union.