VILNIUS — The shutdown of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant could be the most expensive decommissioning the world has ever seen, and Lithuania’s prosecutor general wants to find out if it’s due to criminal malfeasance.

The shutdown of the plant on Jan. 1 this year should have seen the start of a smooth process including the moving of nuclear waste to safe storage facilities. The storage facilities that were meant to be built two years ago still aren’t done and the costly procedure of keeping the radioactive fuel in the reactor continues. The contract for building the storage vessels is also ballooning out in cost. Now Vice Minister of Energy Romas Švedas is saying that [private_supervisor]the shutdown will be the world’s most costly.

Energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas and new head of the power plant Osvaldas Čiukšys met with the Special Investigation Service, the Financial Crimes Investigation Service and Prosecutor General on Saturday to discuss the supposed disappearance of funds. When contacted by Baltic Reports, Čiukšys was unavailable for comment.

Čiukšys handed over documents to the authorities to start the investigation into the situation. He was given the job as head of the plant last month after the previous boss was asked to stand down following inexplicable delays in the shutdown process.

The Ministry of Energy told Baltic Reports on Monday that the latest estimates for the completion of the shutdown of the plant stand at 2030. The European Union is funding the shutdown procedure until 2013. After that date, it is expected that the country will have to factor the cost into the price of energy for the consumer.

Energy ministry spokesman Kęstutis Jauniškis was unable to say who was under investigation. He said the authorities would name the suspects once they had been identified.

The investigation is required to ensure that the EU will come up with the money for the decommissioning.

“We will do everything needed so that the EU provides financing for the decommissioning project to be carried out successfully after the year 2013,” Jauniškis told Baltic Reports. “We will have to provide all the necessary evidence proving that the EU finances have been used transparently.”

The European Commission wrote in a paper that in terms of technical costs, estimates of the cost of decommissioning range from €987 million to €1.3 million.

Lithuania is receiving in total €1.367 billion over the period 1999–2013. Some €865 million is allocated for the period of 2007–2013.

The shutdown is at a critical stage given that the fuel must be stored in the reactor Švedas told local newsportal Delfi.lt in an interview. German company Nukem Technologies was supposed to complete the nuclear fuel containers by 2008, but new estimates say this could only be done by 2013.

“The situation is indeed critical, especially for the radioactive waste management and storage facility, as the dispute with the general contractor Nukem Technologies is very deep. The challenge will be to resolve the dispute on the amounts of which I will not specifically identify, but they are very high,” Švedas said.

Lithuania had to shut down the plant as part of its membership to the EU. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]the shutdown will be the world’s most costly.

Energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas and new head of the power plant Osvaldas Čiukšys met with the Special Investigation Service, the Financial Crimes Investigation Service and Prosecutor General on Saturday to discuss the supposed disappearance of funds. When contacted by Baltic Reports, Čiukšys was unavailable for comment.

Čiukšys handed over documents to the authorities to start the investigation into the situation. He was given the job as head of the plant last month after the previous boss was asked to stand down following inexplicable delays in the shutdown process.

The Ministry of Energy told Baltic Reports on Monday that the latest estimates for the completion of the shutdown of the plant stand at 2030. The European Union is funding the shutdown procedure until 2013. After that date, it is expected that the country will have to factor the cost into the price of energy for the consumer.

Energy ministry spokesman Kęstutis Jauniškis was unable to say who was under investigation. He said the authorities would name the suspects once they had been identified.

The investigation is required to ensure that the EU will come up with the money for the decommissioning.

“We will do everything needed so that the EU provides financing for the decommissioning project to be carried out successfully after the year 2013,” Jauniškis told Baltic Reports. “We will have to provide all the necessary evidence proving that the EU finances have been used transparently.”

The European Commission wrote in a paper that in terms of technical costs, estimates of the cost of decommissioning range from €987 million to €1.3 million.

Lithuania is receiving in total €1.367 billion over the period 1999–2013. Some €865 million is allocated for the period of 2007–2013.

The shutdown is at a critical stage given that the fuel must be stored in the reactor Švedas told local newsportal Delfi.lt in an interview. German company Nukem Technologies was supposed to complete the nuclear fuel containers by 2008, but new estimates say this could only be done by 2013.

“The situation is indeed critical, especially for the radioactive waste management and storage facility, as the dispute with the general contractor Nukem Technologies is very deep. The challenge will be to resolve the dispute on the amounts of which I will not specifically identify, but they are very high,” Švedas said.

Lithuania had to shut down the plant as part of its membership to the EU. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]the shutdown will be the world’s most costly.

Energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas and new head of the power plant Osvaldas Čiukšys met with the Special Investigation Service, the Financial Crimes Investigation Service and Prosecutor General on Saturday to discuss the supposed disappearance of funds. When contacted by Baltic Reports, Čiukšys was unavailable for comment.

Čiukšys handed over documents to the authorities to start the investigation into the situation. He was given the job as head of the plant last month after the previous boss was asked to stand down following inexplicable delays in the shutdown process.

The Ministry of Energy told Baltic Reports on Monday that the latest estimates for the completion of the shutdown of the plant stand at 2030. The European Union is funding the shutdown procedure until 2013. After that date, it is expected that the country will have to factor the cost into the price of energy for the consumer.

Energy ministry spokesman Kęstutis Jauniškis was unable to say who was under investigation. He said the authorities would name the suspects once they had been identified.

The investigation is required to ensure that the EU will come up with the money for the decommissioning.

“We will do everything needed so that the EU provides financing for the decommissioning project to be carried out successfully after the year 2013,” Jauniškis told Baltic Reports. “We will have to provide all the necessary evidence proving that the EU finances have been used transparently.”

The European Commission wrote in a paper that in terms of technical costs, estimates of the cost of decommissioning range from €987 million to €1.3 million.

Lithuania is receiving in total €1.367 billion over the period 1999–2013. Some €865 million is allocated for the period of 2007–2013.

The shutdown is at a critical stage given that the fuel must be stored in the reactor Švedas told local newsportal Delfi.lt in an interview. German company Nukem Technologies was supposed to complete the nuclear fuel containers by 2008, but new estimates say this could only be done by 2013.

“The situation is indeed critical, especially for the radioactive waste management and storage facility, as the dispute with the general contractor Nukem Technologies is very deep. The challenge will be to resolve the dispute on the amounts of which I will not specifically identify, but they are very high,” Švedas said.

Lithuania had to shut down the plant as part of its membership to the EU. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]the shutdown will be the world’s most costly.

Energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas and new head of the power plant Osvaldas Čiukšys met with the Special Investigation Service, the Financial Crimes Investigation Service and Prosecutor General on Saturday to discuss the supposed disappearance of funds. When contacted by Baltic Reports, Čiukšys was unavailable for comment.

Čiukšys handed over documents to the authorities to start the investigation into the situation. He was given the job as head of the plant last month after the previous boss was asked to stand down following inexplicable delays in the shutdown process.

The Ministry of Energy told Baltic Reports on Monday that the latest estimates for the completion of the shutdown of the plant stand at 2030. The European Union is funding the shutdown procedure until 2013. After that date, it is expected that the country will have to factor the cost into the price of energy for the consumer.

Energy ministry spokesman Kęstutis Jauniškis was unable to say who was under investigation. He said the authorities would name the suspects once they had been identified.

The investigation is required to ensure that the EU will come up with the money for the decommissioning.

“We will do everything needed so that the EU provides financing for the decommissioning project to be carried out successfully after the year 2013,” Jauniškis told Baltic Reports. “We will have to provide all the necessary evidence proving that the EU finances have been used transparently.”

The European Commission wrote in a paper that in terms of technical costs, estimates of the cost of decommissioning range from €987 million to €1.3 million.

Lithuania is receiving in total €1.367 billion over the period 1999–2013. Some €865 million is allocated for the period of 2007–2013.

The shutdown is at a critical stage given that the fuel must be stored in the reactor Švedas told local newsportal Delfi.lt in an interview. German company Nukem Technologies was supposed to complete the nuclear fuel containers by 2008, but new estimates say this could only be done by 2013.

“The situation is indeed critical, especially for the radioactive waste management and storage facility, as the dispute with the general contractor Nukem Technologies is very deep. The challenge will be to resolve the dispute on the amounts of which I will not specifically identify, but they are very high,” Švedas said.

Lithuania had to shut down the plant as part of its membership to the EU. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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