The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Renewed the Funding of Ignalina NPP Project

It should be noted that after appointing the new Director General of the Ignalina NPP Plant in March 2013 and the renewal of the dialogue between the enterprise and the Contractor, the problematic issues concerning the spent nuclear fuel containers were resolved. After resumption of the negotiations the achievement was done that the Contractor submitted to the INPP the justifications of the identified discrepancies of the manufactured containers. The validity of these justifications was confirmed by the independent experts’ conclusions. By the end of October, the Contractor also has to submit complete sets of documents, which INPP will provide for the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI).

During the Donor Assembly on 14 June, 2013 the representatives of the European Commission and EBRD acknowledged that the progress has been made while dealing with the B1 issues directly related to safety, and the remaining technical issues are being resolved (crane upgrades, shock absorbers).

Another significant Project B2/3/4 (Solid Waste Management and Storage Facilities) is being implemented without any technical issues and the progress while trying to reduce the current 50-month delay is visible, although not yet very satisfactory. Ongoing commercial dispute with the Contractor concerning additional funding is not related to the project's implementation process, which means that the project must be implemented despite ongoing commercial disputes.

„The renewal of the funding means that the progress in resolving problematic issues is acknowledged. First of all it is related to the justifications of the identified discrepancies of the manufactured containers for spent nuclear fuel storage, which were submitted by the Contractor, also the received new technical projects of shock absorbers of which suitability for performing all required functions was confirmed by the independent international experts and INPP initiative to commence the modernization of the cranes at the halls of the spent nuclear fuel storage pools. Unfortunately, it should be noted that the works at interim spent fuel storage facility site are being performed slowly in spite of the fact that during this time of the year the works could be performed extremely rapidly and the construction works could be completed this year. Nevertheless, we hope that the Contractor will speed up the completion of the project and thus will demonstrate readiness to continue constructive cooperation“ – said Darius Janulevičius, the Director General of Ignalina NPP.