New Years Eve shutdown of Lithuanian nuclear facility | Irish Sun

New Years Eve shutdown of Lithuanian nuclear facility

Irish Sun Saturday 2nd January, 2010

A Soviet-built nuclear power plant in Lithuania has been shut down.

The closure was ordered by the European Union which declared the Chernobyl-style plant unsafe.

The EU granted Lithuania $1.1 billion to help fund the decommissioning, which has been a top topic in the country for more than ten years.

Engineers shut the Ignalina plant down on New Year's Eve, just before midnight.

The closure will impact the country which is deep in recession. Aside from major employment losses at the plant itself, the shut down will deprive Lithuania of a cheap source of electricity. An estimated 80% of the country was receiving eletricity from the plant.

"Of course what is important in this turmoil environment is that energy policy and energy common efforts for all Europe are important to avoid a crisis what we do have on the ground and to avoid the possible future crises," Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite said Friday. "No matter that we do not have formally that in EU treaties, it is only about good political will," she added.