Situated near the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania is the town of Visaginas, built by Soviet planners to house the plant's workers. This power plant is the same variety as the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, making Visaginas the analog to the Ukrainian city of Pripyat the plant is currently in the process of being decommissioned and permanently shut down In Soviet times, the Orthodox community of Visaginas was quite small and met without a priest. In 1991, prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the community formed a parish in a facility owned by the power plant. The church can still be found tucked tightly between two apartment buildings and continues to serve its community of worshipers to this day the spire of this longstanding church was used as a radio transmission tower A century-old church is now a space museum with a treasure trove of Soviet space items This decommissioned nuclear power plant offers tours of its Communist-era control room and reactor hall The first commercial nuclear power plant constructed on Long Island This top secret Chinese military megaproject is the world’s largest human-made tunnel structure This ornate church has survived Nazi and Soviet occupation including a short stint as a Soviet-era gymnasium and cinema Learn the incredible story of how an unassuming spa town was transformed into one of the world’s largest uranium mining sites The dining hall that nourishes workers in Chornobyl's Exclusion Zone is also open to visitors Generation mix: wind 1.5 TWh (31%); hydro 1.0 TWh (20%); biofuels & waste 1.0 TWh (20%); natural gas 0.5 TWh (10%); oil 0.4 TWh; solar 0.3 TWh Import/export balance: 8.6 TWh net import (11.2 TWh imports; 2.7 TWh exports) Source: International Energy Agency and The World Bank Since the closure of the two reactors at Ignalina in 2004 and 2009 Lithuania switched from being an electricity exporter to importer and significantly increased its consumption of natural gas and biomass (see below) In 2020 some 70% of the country’s electricity requirements were met through imports.  Integration into the European Union (EU) energy market is a strategic priority for all three Baltic countries (Lithuania Latvia and Estonia). This was formalized by the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) signed by eight states of the Baltic region and the European Commission The main goal of the BEMIP is to create a unified market of the Baltic Sea region Full synchronization with the European continental grid is aimed for by 2025 The planned Visaginas nuclear power plant constitutes an integral part of the BEMIP. Apart from about 60 km of Lithuania’s border with Poland the three Baltic states are bordered by Russia and Belarus Interconnections have been established with: Poland – 'LitPol Link' (500 MWe commissioned 2015); Sweden – 'NordBalt' (700 MWe commissioned 2016); and Estonia and Finland – 'Estlink 2' (650 MWe Energy security has been a key priority for Lithuania (and other Baltic states) since 1990 The 2012 National Energy Independence Strategy was cast around the Visaginas nuclear plant (details below) a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal The plan aimed to reduce energy reliance on Russia. The Visaginas power plant has not moved forward following a referendum in October 2012 in which two-thirds voted against the project proceeding the country’s gas transmission operator confirmed all gas imports were taking place through the Klaipėda LNG terminal About 75% of heat (district and residential) is produced from burning woody biomass after a major shift away from the use of natural gas Biomass is harvested in Lithuania and imported from Belarus Construction on a third reactor at Ignalina commenced in 1985 but was suspended after the 1986 Chernobyl accident Originally the Ignalina plant was designed to provide power not only for Lithuania but also for neighbouring Latvia Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad In 1994, Lithuania agreed to accept funds – eventually 34.8 million ECU ($36.8 million) from the Nuclear Safety Account administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)e – to support a safety improvement program at Ignalina which evolved to include closing both units at least by the time their pressure tubes needed replacing after some 15-20 years with considerable help from other countries The Ignalina plant was operated by Ignalinos Atominé Elektriné (IAE) and supplied power to national utility Lietuvos Energija at very low cost. Electricity prices increased dramatically following the closure of the plant at the end of 2009.f In February 2007, the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) and Poland agreed to build a new nuclear plant at Ignalina, initially with 3200 MWe capacity (2 x 1600 MWe)g Though located next to the Soviet-era Ignalina plant near the Belarus border the new one was to be called Visaginas after the nearby town of that name The Visaginas Nuclear Energy (Visagino Atominė Elektrinė VAE) company was established in August 2008 for the new units with Lithuania wanting 34% of the project and Poland then wanting 30% of it Latvia and Estonia were unhappy with the prospect of minor stakes and the split was far from clear In April 2010, formal proposals from five selected strategic investors were submitted to the government, and bids from these were then sought. Early in December 2010, it was announced that the tender had failed after two bids were received. One undisclosed bid did not comply with tender requirements and the other, from Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), was withdrawn two weeks after submittal8 The Lithuanian government said it would instead conduct direct negotiations with potential investors and that it expected to begin operation of the new plant in 2020 At an early December 2010 meeting in Warsaw Estonia and Poland confirmed their support for the Visaginas project In May 2011 "competitive proposals from potential strategic investors" were received In July the government selected Hitachi as strategic investor though it would be GE Hitachi which does the engineering Latvia and Poland participated in the evaluation to determine which of the two proposals was "most economically advantageous." Their energy companies would be investors with Hitachi in the project company GE Hitachi planned to build a single 1350 MWe ABWR The first was expected to operate from 2020. A combined construction and operating licence was to be issued by July 2015 The cost of the project was estimated at €4.92 billion In October 2011 the government formally notified the European Commission of plans for the new nuclear power plant at Visaginas to be built in collaboration with Estonia in December Poland withdrew from the project saying that VAE's conditions were unacceptable to PGE In March 2012 the prime ministers of Estonia and Latvia reiterated their support for the project, a concession agreement with Hitachi was initialled and then in May signed providing the contractual framework for the project and giving Hitachi a 20% stake in it In May 2012 the Lithuanian parliament approved the project and the concession agreement Initially Latvia was to take 20% of the project company and Estonia 22% for about €1 billion each a non-binding referendum held in conjunction with a national election in October 2012 clouded the prospects for the Visaginas project The referendum question asked if voters wanted new nuclear power capacity built The Social Democrats had forced the referendum in order to make Visaginas an election issue and they formed a government with Labor and two smaller parties (they had led a minority government 2004-08) following Russia’s annexation of Crimea seven parliamentary parties* signed a broad agreement expressing consensus on the country’s security policy to 2020 The agreement reaffirmed Lithuania's desire to reinforce cooperation with strategic partners – the Baltic and Nordic countries the EU and the USA – as a principal foreign policy goal It identified energy dependence as one of the greatest challenges to national security Hence a priority “is to integrate as quickly as possible into the EU's internal energy market and to implement major energy projects the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant and power interconnections with Sweden and Poland.” The nuclear plant project has to be implemented “in accordance to the terms and conditions of financing and participation improved in cooperation with partners in order to expand the autonomous and competitive basic capacities of generating electricity.” * The agreement was signed by Chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Chairman of the Homeland Union – Christian Democrats (former PM to 2012) Vice Chairman of the Order and Justice Party Chairman of the Lithuanian Liberal Movement Chairman of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania and representative of the Way of Courage Party In July 2014 an agreement with Hitachi regarding the project company was signed In June 2015 Hitachi said that it expected the project company to be set up "in about a year" and the energy minister said that discussions were proceeding with Latvia and Estonia Hitachi estimated the cost at about $4 billion at the end of 2015 the project company was wound down and in November 2016 the government released a National Energy Strategy and said it was delaying the 3400 MWe project until it either becomes cost effective under market conditions or is needed for energy security While discussions proceeded regarding Visaginas Russia started to build the 2400 MWe Baltic nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad Russia's RAO UES (57% owned by Rosatom) signed an agreement with its Lithuanian subsidiary RAO Lietuva to export 1000 MWe of power from this to Lithuania from 2017 Lithuania contested the location of the Baltic plant since it is only 10 km from the border and 200 km from Vilnius and it said that the environmental assessment did not meet the requirements of the Espoo Convention* governing such The former government was therefore not keen to buy electricity from it Poland also discontinued talks with InterRao regarding buying power from the Baltic plant. Rosatom said that it had responded to all Lithuania’s questions and sent more than 1000 pages of information to it. Rosatom subsequently suspended construction of the Baltic plant due to lack of interest by the Baltic states Poland and Germany in buying power from the project * Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context. Belarus has ratified the convention Lithuania also objected on the same basis to Belarus' new nuclear power plant at Ostrovets 23 km from the border and 55 km from Vilnius. Belarus claims to have answered all the questions put to it regarding siting the plant. Lithuania filed a complaint with the Implementation Committee of the Espoo Convention and in 2013 the committee ruled that Belarus had violated the convention. In 2014 a meeting of the parties to the convention "encouraged” Belarus to take measures to build confidence with neighboring countries concerning the project They also suggested that Belarus invite the IAEA to carry out a site and external events design (SEED) mission at Ostravets and in January 2017 the IAEA team reported favourably for Belarus (The Baltic states and Belarus have good interconnection of grids from the Soviet era Kaliningrad gets much of its electricity from Russia The revised energy policy in 2012 involved rebuilding the grid to be independent of the Russian/Belarus system and to work in with the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO) synchronous system as well as strengthening interconnection among the three Baltic states in March 2013 Rosatom said that Russia had officially notified the European Commission (EC) that it wanted its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to join the ENTSO system The EU authorized the EC to hold talks with Russia and Belarus on disconnection of the transmission systems of Lithuania Latvia and Estonia from the IPS/UPS system controlled by Russia Rosatom renewed the proposal for a transmission link between Kaliningrad and Poland and asked the EC to build this into the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIT) to obtain EU financial support It appears that there was no positive response and Lithuania continues to take measures to isolate Kaliningrad The Radioactive Waste Management Agency (RATA) was established in 2001 by the Ministry of Economy for management and final disposal of all radioactive waste from the Ignalina plant. In 2018 the Law on the Management of Radioactive Waste was amended merging RATA with Ignalina NPP and assigning sole responsibility for the management of all of the country’s nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel to the state enterprise RATA identified a site close to Ignalina for a near-surface final repository for low- and intermediate-level waste and the government approved this VATESI issued a licence to build the Solid Waste Management and Storage Facilities (SWMSF) at the Ignalina site for all solid operational and decommissioning waste In November 2009 a consortium led by Areva was contracted to design the €10 million repository which consists of reinforced concrete cells holding about 120,000 cubic metres of waste immobilized in a cement matrix covered with multi-layer protective barriers In June 2015 the Ignalina plant applied for a licence to operate the SWMSF The solid waste retrieval facility has been built next to the existing temporary waste storage buildings inside the perimeter of the Ignalina plant The solid waste treatment and storage facilities have been constructed close to the plant adjacent to the interim used fuel storage facility Due to the fuel pools at both reactors being essentially full some used fuel is stored in dry casks onsite A new interim spent fuel storage facility (ISFSF) was built by a consortium led by GNS-Nukem about one kilometre from the power plant It will store most of the used fuel that has accumulated over the course of the plant's operation Some 18,000 RBMK-1500 fuel assemblies from Ignalina 1&2 will be stored in a total of 202 metal and concrete Constor M2 containers at the facility for 50 years. Phase 1 contract was for €93 million and in 2009 an amendment for phase 2 took the project to €193.5 million financed by the EBRD’s International Decommissioning Support Fund In 2010 VATESI licenced construction of a very low-level waste (VLLW) facility to store 60,000 cubic metres of VLLW from both operation and decommissioning of the plant It is close to the new used fuel storage facility and the solid radioactive waste treatment and storage facility Both Ignalina RBMK reactors are now being decommissioned Used nuclear fuel from both units has been moved from the used fuel storage pools into casks and transported to the ISFSF facility Dismantling of unit 2 commenced in mid-2014 Funding for this was suspended by EBRD in December 2012 due to lack of progress The total estimated cost of the Ignalina decommissioning project is over €2.5 billion EU funding for this work is largely through the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund (IIDSF) administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) and two other funds administered by EBRD About 95% of the required decommissioning funds are being provided by the EU member states and the spending is being administered by a Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) and the EBRD The other 5% comes from Lithuanian state funds through the state's own energy agency In 1991, Lithuania's State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (Valstybinė atominės energetikos saugos inspekcija, VATESI) was set up to oversee Ignalina VATESI is the state regulatory and supervisory authority for nuclear energy and the safety of activities involving sources of ionising radiation It is now an independent institution which reports directly to government the Independent Safety Analysis Group (ISAG) was also set up by the government at the Lithuanian Energy Institute in Kaunas to give technical assistance to both VATESI and the plant The Radiation Protection Centre oversees radiation protection It drafts laws and regulations on radiation protection Lithuania has been party to the Vienna Convention on civil liability for nuclear damage since 1994 It became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1993 Lithuania came under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1992 and the Additional Protocol in came into force in 2000 a. The Ignalina site is located near the town of Visaginas, 130 km from Vilnius, near the point where Lithuania's borders with Latvia and Belarus meet. The plant is beside a large lake, Lake Drukshyai, which was used for cooling. [Back] b. The design capacity of the two Ignalina RBMK-1500 reactors was 4800 MWt (1500 MWe) each. Following safety concerns arising from the April 1986 accident at Chernobyl, it was decided to limit operation of the units to 4200 MWt, effectively derating them. [Back] c. Construction of unit 2 commenced in 1980 and was completed in 1986. However, its startup was delayed until August 1987 due to the April 1986 accident at Chernobyl. [Back] e. The Nuclear Safety Account was the first multilateral fund set up at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 1993 to finance nuclear safety projects in central and eastern Europe. See the page on nuclear safety on the EBRD website (www.ebrd.com). [Back] f. In January 2010 – the month following the shutdown of Ignalina 2 – electricity prices increased by 33.3%. [Back] A feasibility study launched by the MoU showed that a new nuclear plant costing €2.5-4.0 billion would be economically attractive and could be on line in 2015 Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas invited Poland to join in the project despite Lithuania's Baltic partners being against Poland's involvement the Baltic states agreed to discuss cooperation with Poland and it was announced that Poland was to participate The envisaged capacity of the proposed plant was increased to up to 3200 MWe up from the 800-1600 MWe capacity originally planned with each of the other three parties taking 22% but a formal agreement could not be reached the Lithuanian Electricity Organization (LEO LT) was established by the Lithuanian government to raise funds for the new nuclear plant The Lithuanian government held 61.7% of LEO LT and NDX Energija 38.3% The government's 96.4% holding in Lietuvos Energija along with its 71.34% stake in RST (Rytų skirstomieji tinklai Eastern Power Grid Company) were transferred to LEO LT; and NDX Energija transferred its 97.1% stake in VST (Vakarų skirstomieji tinklai Much controversy surrounded the formation of LEO LT and the general election at the end of 2008 brought in a new government (under Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius) that was against the company LEO LT decided to name the new plant after the nearby town of Visaginas although it would be built adjacent to the Ignalina RBMKs VAE) joint venture company was established in August 2008 for the new units LEO LT initially owned all the shares in the new company and intended to retain 51% the Lithuanian government officially began searching for strategic investors in the project (see Note i below) Belarus is also building a VVER-1200 nuclear plant, initially with two units6 located in the Ostovets/Astravets district of the Hrodna region, near the Lithuanian border. Construction started in November 2013 and the first unit was connected to the grid in March 2020.  [Back] j. The planned 154 km double-circuit HVDC 400 kV overhead line, connecting Alytus in Lithuania and Elk in Poland, is coordinated by LitPol Link. Established in May 2008, LitPol Link is a 50:50 joint venture between transmission system operators Lietuvos energija AB and PSE (Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne) Operator SA. [Back] Jarec was born in Visaginas – Lithuania's youngest city, built 50 years ago to house workers from the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. The city is known for its Soviet-style architecture, its ethnically diverse population (predominantly Russian-speaking), and its scenic surroundings – it is nestled among forests and lakes. "My family is originally from Belarus – my parents came to Lithuania in the 1980s. They arrived in a wonderful, still-developing, young and promising city," she recalls. Jarec says she grew up in an entirely Russian-speaking environment, where everyone she knew – family, friends, neighbours – spoke Russian. "Naturally, we spoke Russian at home, just like everyone around us. It was the main language, and I learned Lithuanian at school. I do have a knack for languages, and I speak Lithuanian and English fluently. Of course, I owe a lot to my Lithuanian teacher – we simply loved to talk. When you enjoy talking to someone, you practise the language naturally," she says. But that wasn’t always the case. In childhood, Jarec felt connected to the post-Soviet space. In first grade, she enrolled in music school – and had her first cultural shock: the songs were in Lithuanian. "I really didn’t like choir rehearsals, because we had to sing in Lithuanian. I didn’t understand the lyrics. It was hard for me, and I really didn’t want to go to rehearsals," she remembers. However, this disappointing experience turned out to be a turning point in her search for identity. "I was so disheartened that I decided not to complain but to learn the language. I got a little notebook and started from scratch," she says. "By the tenth grade, I had a pretty good grasp of the language," she adds. "What helped was participating in academic competitions, especially at the national level, which meant travelling to other towns. You meet kids from all over, find out where they're from – it was really interesting." Jarec decided to study Creative Industries at Vilnius Tech (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University), where she faced not only academic challenges but also a new cultural environment. Despite Lithuanian becoming an important part of her life, she still felt a disconnect between her identity and her surroundings. "When I arrived in Vilnius, it was hard. I think the lecturers could have spoken Russian, but I didn’t want them to. From the start, I realised that my Lithuanian level was lower than that of native speakers – not a surprise, really. There were plenty of opportunities to discuss and work on creative tasks, but at first I was terrified. To motivate myself, I would draw a star every time I managed to ask a question in Lithuanian," she says. That sense of insecurity stayed with her during the early months of her studies – Jarec felt that the "Russian" side of her identity prevented her from fully opening up in the new linguistic and cultural environment. Still, she managed to overcome her fears and began integrating into Lithuanian society. Her search for identity became a part of daily life. "Over time, as I started speaking more Lithuanian and made Lithuanian friends, the barrier disappeared," she says. According to Jarec, her native culture and language will always remain important to her, but she increasingly feels a part of Lithuanian society as well. Still, the process of navigating and reconciling her dual cultural identity has not been easy. "At some point, I realised that not only Russian, but also Lithuanian and English are important to me. These languages became part of who I am – I learned to use them in different situations. But what really mattered was understanding that I don’t have to choose one identity. I can embrace them all," Jarec says. A major turning point in Irina’s life came with the full-scale war in Ukraine, which profoundly changed her view of her native culture and language. "I think everyone would agree – the world fell apart," she says. In 2022, together with her friend Maksim Paukštė, she initiated a petition on behalf of Russian-speaking residents of the Baltic states, condemning the war. "It was a petition from Russian speakers in the Baltics against Russia’s war in Ukraine. It was important for me to say that we do not support the war," she explains. Jarec stresses that, despite her cultural ties to the Russian language, she felt hurt and disillusioned by Russia’s actions. She felt it was her responsibility to show that Russian-speaking people do not support the war or aggression. "On behalf of Russian speakers in the Baltic states, I wanted to say: we don’t need to be 'rescued'. We’ve integrated here. We live here and we build our lives in peace – preserving our culture while being part of Lithuania and the countries we live in," she explains. Like many others, Jarec began to question her attitude toward the Russian language and culture after 2022. She admits she was raised to believe in the superiority of Russian. "I grew up believing that Russian was the greatest language in the world – a grand, incredibly rich language – and that Russian culture was the richest. But after all these events, I realised you can’t frame things that way. There are so many cultures, so many languages, so many human experiences in the world – it’s not all about one thing," she says. This realisation became central to her continuing self-reflection and search for identity. "I became interested in Ukrainian and Belarusian culture, their literature and music. I understood that these cultural resources shouldn't be used to glorify just one culture – they should also shine a light on those that have long been forgotten," Irina explains. She recognises that cultural identity is fluid and can change depending on circumstances and personal experience. Like many people raised in multilingual and multicultural environments, Irina sees identity not as a fixed concept, but as an ongoing process of discovery and development. "I speak many languages, and each one brings a bit of another culture into me. I feel that I speak a bit differently in Lithuanian and in Russian – but that, too, has meaning," she observes. Today, Jarec continues to work in the cultural sector in both Vilnius and Visaginas. She actively organises cultural events and connects with people from a wide range of backgrounds and languages. She believes successful integration into society is impossible without a willingness to understand and respect other cultures. "It's important not to isolate yourself, but to look for ways to connect. In Vilnius – as in any multicultural city – it's crucial to create space for exchange and dialogue," she says. "I’ve come to understand that, regardless of my background, I am a part of Lithuania," she adds. The room will look familiar to anyone who’s watched the HBO Chernobyl series, which was filmed at the Ignalina power plant in August 2018. The hugely popular series, watched by over 8 million people shows the catastrophic nuclear explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near the town of Pripyat in Ukraine in 1986 Current estimates place the number of deaths between 4,000 (according a 2005 United Nations analysis) and 90,000 (as suggested by Greenpeace International) tourism to Ignalina has “massively increased,” says Natalija Survila-Glebova Chernobyl’s radiation levels remain too high for tourists to walk around the plant and Australia have poured into the Ignalina plant in Visaginas for the unique experience of being able to walk on nuclear reactors something that’s too dangerous to do in Chernobyl The rise in tourism has breathed new life into a town that has faced an identity crisis since the Ignalina plant was decommissioned in 2009 The closure led to the loss of thousands of jobs and a surge in young people leaving Visaginas; Survila-Glebova says that the plant will be fully closed off in eight years The mayor and residents are instead finding ways to move the town away from its nuclear identity and develop other industries to keep people from leaving “Our city will always be a nuclear age monument but it will not support the life of our residents,” says Pavel Kostenko a 36-year-old Visaginas resident who runs a small steel production company Visaginas’ design resembles a butterfly cut in half with each wing representing the INPP reactors.) Launching and expanding new industries is now seen as a way of connecting more closely with other parts of Lithuania. In this mostly Russian-speaking town, where more than half of the population are Russian many residents have felt disconnected from the rest of the country now we need to think about the future,” Kostenko says “No one could believe they would do that and cut thousands of jobs,” says Kostenko Some 5,000 people were employed at the plant; today have migrated to Russia and other cities in Europe; the town is now home to about 18,700 people according to Visaginas mayor Erlandas Galaguz who worked as a reactor engineer for over a decade “Residents thought that there won’t be life here.” The crisis was compounded by the language barrier “To be Lithuanian you need to speak the language,” says documentary producer Cullinane Many people from Visaginas’ older generation can’t speak Lithuanian and that “doesn’t go over so well” in modern Lithuania Even residents who are fluent in Lithuanian have struggled to integrate Speaking through her respirator in a muffled voice as we walk through a long brightly lit corridor Jevsejeva says: “I understand talk and work in Lithuanian and with Lithuanians but unfortunately I don’t feel fully Lithuanian and other Lithuanians don’t recognize me as one of them.” The 31 year old worked in London at two major banks for four years before deciding to move back “I thought I would die of loneliness in London,” she says, adding that she’s one of a handful of her classmates who decided to settle in Visaginas, where the average salary is 700 euros a month.(The national average is 1,300 euros.) “We need to go back to a state where people believe in the town’s perspective and potential,” says Visaginas mayor, Erlandas Galaguz. And to do that, he says, Visaginas needs jobs. “But things are getting better,” he adds. A new factory that will produce medical equipment is currently being built by the U.K It’s expected to give an economic boost to the town with the factory planning to employ about 200 people initially and to eventually increase the workforce to 1,500 given to Lithuanians who return home after living abroad to start their own civic initiative Lake Visaginas in Lithuania on Nov. 29, 2019.Madeline Roache for TIMELitWild has been able to bring in visitors, Anastasija says, because of improvements in infrastructure in Visaginas. These new pavements, street lights and regular trains connecting the town to the capital are largely the result of E.U. funds from 2007-2013 But she says the company needs more support needs more support from local authorities,” says Anastasija LitWild wants to set up a local camping site and an information center which require a greenlight from local politicians But Anastasija says they’ve been waiting for concrete action for over a year Residents are also keen to develop the creative industries Alex Urazov greets me with a smile outside his art residency “Tochka” (“Point”) in central Visaginas barefoot and in cut-off cargo pants even though it’s snowing The 35 year old was born in Russia and moved to Visaginas in 1988 at the age of 4 he says he felt he had “hit a ceiling” and needed to get out he moved back to his hometown to set up an art residency which occupies a 5 story building in the center of town welcomes young Visaginas residents and visiting artists Urazov’s only rule is that alcohol and drugs are banned “I won’t turn them away if they come here drunk but they can’t take anything in here,” he says sci-fi figurines and other crafts — some made by the visitors — crowd the dimly lit rooms One of the rooms is decked out in dream catchers and hand-made key-chains which they sell online and at local markets engage in heated debates or read Urazov’s collection of books on philosophy It’s also a rare safe space in Visaginas for LGBT people “A lot of people who don’t feel like they fit in come here,” he says Urazov says he wants Visaginas to move away from its “Soviet” past and become more “European.” “I want to bring Lithuania and the world closer to Visaginas attract diverse people and make it contemporary,” he says Various artists and photographers have begun migrating from the capital to Visaginas it’s peaceful with the surrounding nature and has all the necessities of a city.” Other residents see a huge potential in the plant’s leftover infrastructure drive to a large 3-story administrative building in the Ignalina power plant that’s been abandoned and closed off to the public since 2009 Kostenko proudly shows me a frame from the Chernobyl trailer featuring this exact gate and tells me how camera crews took over the site for four days But attracting more production companies is not what they have in mind for the future a member of the “Visaginas is Us” a public election committee led by seven other young professionals from the town envisions Visaginas as an IT hub that hosts data centers—and hopes to transform the Ignalina power plant facilities into a data center “Visaginas is Us” says politicians in Vilnius could help the town attract investors and encourage companies to expand by introducing a free economic zone in Visaginas (an area where companies are taxed very lightly or not at all) or by offering corporate tax concessions they secured the lifting of the sanitary protection zone which bans certain businesses operating within a 2 mile radius of the plant expected to be implemented from January 2020 will allow businesses to set up shop in this building and six others around the plant In one of the building’s rooms at Ignalina old fire extinguishers and barrels of oil are scattered on the ground and a large industrial hook hangs from the ceiling runs through the room and around the Ignalina plant; “the plant’s artery” is what Kostenko calls it Keep out” hang below red rubber gloves coated in white dust In a room that occupies the entire third floor and black and white photos of former plant employees “Think how many offices and people could be here,” says Kostenko we get a view of hundreds of yards of the Ignalina plant and even more foundations of those that were dismounted “If we could only get the young generation to build something as big and impressive in such a short amount of time as the older generation did,” says Kostenko The original version of this story misstated the number of deaths caused by the Chernobyl explosion The original version of this story misstated the name of INPP’s head of communications Contact us at letters@time.com But I reached out to its isolated communities Read moreA few months later I decided to settle in Visaginas I’d become attached to this time capsule surrounded by lush wilderness Here in the atomic town I skated on frozen lakes warmed up inside cute saunas and fixed my broken bond with mother nature She wore long fake lashes and changed the colour of her hair every two months Sometimes she struggled to translate words from Russian to Lithuanian I quickly noticed how embarrassed young Visaginians were about the language barrier Neringa Rekašiūtė’s immersive exhibition in a Soviet flat in Visaginas Photograph: Berta Tilmantaitė/Neringa RekašiūtėEventually Oksana joined the local border patrol school, while her twin brother went to serve in the Lithuanian army. when I started my photography project Post-Nuclear Identity I realised how wary the town’s inhabitants were of the mass media Even the local scouts had been labelled a national danger People were relieved that my medium-format camera didn’t look like “the ones they use in the press” I started sharing photos and thoughts about life in Visaginas with followers online The older generation could at least place it on the map while the younger one hardly knew it existed When I once invited a young student from Vilnius to visit Visaginas she answered that she wasn’t sure she could get a visa or tour a nuclear simulator with a specialist explaining the inner workings of the plant The exhibition was talked about on national TV and prominent radio shows I could feel perceptions of Visaginas changing: from a nonexistent abandoned place to something approaching cool Read moreLithuania’s government still mainly pretends that Visaginas isn’t there. But nearby Estonia has chosen a completely different approach to its Russian-speaking minority. Last year the Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid moved her residence and cabinet for several weeks to Narva a Russian majority town on the border – visiting all possible institutions and talking to local people you can reach out to them directly and hear their voices my relationship with the man I went to see on that train in 2015 has ended but my relationship with the atomic town has proven to be long-lasting We live in an era of fake news and deliberate attempts to divide us from one another Each one of us can resist that by going where it may seem the most difficult to engage with people – by being curious about those who at first glance seem so different Neringa Rekašiūtė is a Lithuanian photographer Butkevičius said that “anyone familiar with the energy system that exists in Kaliningrad Region understands that after building a [nuclear power plant] they will have to install power lines to provide for transport of electric power to other countries.” And there is another problem still in Kaliningrad Region’s energy system: “according to my information […] they need to upgrade the domestic power lines as well since these are worn out,” the prime minister said But all attempts by Russia to land power delivery contracts with potential customers in the European Union – first and foremost, Lithuania and Poland – fell flat much like the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom’s negotiations to secure investment funds or loans from energy and banking heavyweights in Europe According to Lithuanian Prime Minister Butkevičius Vilnius so far has no official confirmation of Russia’s decision to give up its project in Kaliningrad as the Kommersant reported in its late March story a recent meeting held by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich to discuss energy supply to the enclave focused on energy delivery scenarios that could be put into play should Lithuania desynchronize its grid from the Russian energy system Lithuania’s grid remains part of what is called the IPS/UPS system – a wide area synchronous transmission grid operating on some of the former Soviet territory and controlled by Russia But the former USSR republic has been seeking integration into the European Union’s electricity market; its anticipated exit from the IPS/UPS system may pull the plug on cross-border power delivery to the Kaliningrad enclave the nearest completion date for the Baltic NPP could come no earlier than 2019 taking the licensing stage into account – while a solution for power supply to Kaliningrad was needed already by 2016 the “smaller reactors” option did not make it on the short list of decisions examined at Dvorkovich’s meeting: The strategies under consideration involved beefing up coal and gas capacities in the region And last Thursday, a report by Kaliningrad.Ru (in Russian) said a meeting chaired by Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev made the decision to develop the enclave’s energy system according to a “coal-and-gas scenario.” Kaliningrad Region Governor Nikolai Tsukanov told journalists that this scenario was going to be approved “now” and said he hoped its implementation would begin in 2014 Tsukanov said that “[t]wo weeks ago Rosatom and I talked No one was planning to close the construction site or mothball it.” However the fate of the future plant was not discussed The Baltic NPP fiasco is not stopping Lithuania the dim prospects of the failed competitor station across the border should not mean that Lithuania should abandon its own plans for an NPP in Visaginas a project Vilnius has been talking about since 2009 By building a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas Lithuania intends to make up for the shut-down capacities of Ignalina NPP whose two reactors – the Soviet-built RBMK-1500s – were in accordance with the terms of Lithuania’s accession to the European Union taken offline in 2004 and 2009 and are currently being decommissioned Lithuania has been in talks with its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Poland in hopes to secure their involvement in the project From Lithuania’s point of view, Russia’s decision to scrap the Baltic NPP project may mean an understanding on the part of the Russians that the Baltic countries will never build their own station in Visaginas, said former Lithuanian prime minister, now a management consultant, Aleksandras Abišala. In his opinion, Delfi reports (in Lithuanian) the Baltic NPP was from the start a political project with no economic prospects and one that Kaliningrad Region itself never needed so it has long been evident that there cannot be any nuclear power plant in the Russian enclave “I think the project had two aims – exert pressure to stop the [Visaginas] station from being built and the Baltic countries from synchronizing their power grids with the European Union […] it was clear already six months ago or more that the construction in Kaliningrad Region was being discontinued This alarms me because it would seem to prove that the Russians understand that we’ve already given up on building our own station and it became impossible to continue to invest money into a manifestation of some sort of activity I think this should have no influence on a decision [regarding Visaginas],” Abišala said according to the current prime minister Butkevičius the government is yet to make its final decision but the project is still under examination Questions similar to those that plagued the Kaliningrad project – the feasibility of synchronization with the European Union’s grids and securing generating reserves to switch onto should the need arise – still have no answers These were sought from Lithuania’s chosen strategic investor in the project The Baltic Course reports that the final decision on the Lithuanian NPP in Visaginas will only be possible after all the answers and calculations have been received from the consultants When we […] learn about the price of the project when we […] know the possibilities of synchronization with Western [grids] what reserves are needed […] if one reactor is shut down and when we […] know [the] approximate price for [the] generated electricity then we will decide,” The Baltic Course quoted Butkevičius as saying Lithuanian politicians speak in support of the new NPP… leaders of the parties sitting in the Lithuanian parliament expressed their support for a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas called the Agreement on the Strategic Guidelines of Lithuania’s Foreign holds that the project must be implemented “as soon as possible” “The dependence of Lithuania’s electric power system on the post-Soviet IPS/UPS system and the predominance of import of electricity from this system are a real threat to Lithuania’s national security,” Kauno diena, citing BNS, quotes the document (in Lithuanian) as saying “We reached substantial and even historic agreement and commitment to implement the Visaginas nuclear power plant project […] that brings clear political reasoning back to the project,” Lithuania’s former prime minister Andrius Kubilius told journalists at the parliament on March 31 according to the Lithuania Tribune-run report “If some of the regional partners refuse to participate in the project we will have to search for new partners and different solutions The regional crisis caused by Russia has shown us very clearly that expecting a future of dependence on Russian electricity imports is entirely unsafe and irresponsible,” Kubilius was quoted as saying likely referring to the deepening Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the ripple effects it has set in motion Kubilius now leads the conservative opposition party Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats In his turn, Lithuanian Energy Minister Jaroslav Neverovič sees many possibilities for the realization of the Visaginas project and claims Lithuania has few alternative options to ensure its own competitive power production, Delfi reports (in Lithuanian) “We are very seriously disposed to evaluate our own power production projects If agreements on the economic implementation of the project are reached with our partners the agreement signed by the [parliament] parties on [March 29] then I think the chances for the project to be realized are very good,” Neverovič said in a March 31 broadcast on the TV channel Lietuvos rytas The Visaginas NPP project was developed with participation of Japan’s Hitachi Corporation based on anticipated partnership with Latvia, Estonia, and Poland. Poland, however, long ago withdrew from the project and, a February report in The Economist says In October 2012, over 62% of votes cast in a national advisory referendum, held alongside  parliamentary elections, said “no” to building a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania Though stating that his party was not anti-nuclear and promising “not to take any hurried decisions,” Prime Minister Butkevičius was prompted to pledge the following month to “carry out [the people’s] wishes.” Butkevičius – whose Social Democratic party had won a majority in the October election and who became prime minister in December – also said the Seimas must as soon as possible rule the plan to build the NPP “null and void.” And in December that year, the Seimas adopted a resolution proposing that the government develop a “a cost-optimal and consumer-friendly strategy for provision of electricity” taking into regard the results of the referendum Vilnius is not giving up on its plans for Visaginas The citizens’ stated will was called into question shortly after the results of the referendum were announced Lithuania’s then-Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas said (in Russian) that “if one were to look at it from the political point of view important,” but that “legal experts could interpret [the results] differently.” The president also told BNS around that time that “without some modifications the project is certainly buried,” but that perhaps Lithuania “could build one reactor with the Japanese if there were political will and understanding that we need this.” In a comment given to Bellona in early April of the Lithuanian environmental organization Atgaja said that “the referendum incurs explicit legal obligations and decisions by the parliament should have followed which did not follow.” “It is unbecoming of democratic parties and a democratic country of the European Union to negate and trample on a decision of their citizens that they expressed in a referendum And this was a clear decision – ‘no’ to a new nuclear power plant,” Vainius said “As we see, the people’s representatives do not – or will not – understand and respect the will of the public. No wonder, given that the public is only remembered when the time comes to rise, with its help, to the height of power,” a statement by Lithuania’s environmental movement Association Žali.lt, published last October said in response to the government’s continued attempts over the year that had passed since the referendum All three NPP construction plans sparked a wide-scale cross-border activist campaign fighting to preserve the nuclear-free status of the region and uniting the efforts of political and Belarus in anti-nuclear initiatives and protest actions “The world – not just the regions affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters – is fast distancing itself from this Cold War technology but only becoming more expensive,” Žali.lt said in its statement Quotes that originally appeared in Lithuanian have been translated into English from the Russian version of this report Bellona’s website is currently being transitioned to a new platform and earlier stories imported from the old website (and links to some of which appear in this report) may be experiencing issues involving incorrect or missing photos and photo captions as a result We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause to our readers This article was translated by Maria Kaminskaya Oslo office: info@bellona.no Brussels Office: europa@bellona.org Berlin Office: deutschland@bellona.org Vilnius Office: ru@bellona.org This EU-funded project is helping to turn a Soviet-era military installation spanning 8.8 hectares in north-eastern Lithuania into an industrial park and space for small and medium-sized businesses potentially for some of the 2 000 workers still employed at the decommissioned Ignalina nuclear power plant located 10 km outside the town of Visaginas An investment of this size in the SMART park area is not only a job creator One should greatly appreciate our vocational training centre which can prepare professionals for a particular area I think we are well on the path to developing our industrial sphere the project’s main activities have been completed: the site has been cleaned up and prepared for construction and the administrative building was rebuilt The construction of roads and related transport infrastructure on the site is scheduled for completion in the autumn of 2020 One of the world’s leading manufacturers of respiratory support devices is investing EUR 10 million to construct a factory on the site a 777 m2 space able to accommodate about 10 small and medium-sized businesses The project is intended to contribute to the development of industrial activity in Visaginas by attracting businesses and other investors and by creating jobs for local residents and employees of the nuclear power plant The plant’s two reactors were shut down in 2004 and 2009 respectively The investor already has a factory in Pabrade the Visaginas Technology and Business Vocational Training Centre signed a cooperation agreement with the Pabrade factory in 2016 to start training workers in mechatronics and automatic systems This will enable some of these workers to be employed at the new factory in Visaginas once it starts production 23 people received training in mechatronics (a multidisciplinary branch of engineering that includes electrical 14 were trained in mechatronics and 10 in locksmithing; and in 2019-2020 57 in mechatronics and 14 in machine working train schedules were adapted to ensure better public transport connections between Visaginas and the Pabrade factory This required cooperation between national authorities and municipalities had to be cleaned up and buildings demolished A lack of information on factors like the potential contamination of the site and underground structures presented difficulties and increased the volume of work No chemical contamination was found during the clean-up of the site the intention was to remove foundation structures up to a depth of 0.5 m the depth had to be increased and the area levelled once again to prepare the site for handing over to the investor The project partners include the training centre the ministries of the interior and the economy the national investment promotion agency ‘Invest Lithuania’ the regional development council of the Utena region The project’s success depends on factors outside the project’s scope such as the ability to train workers to supply the investor with skilled staff and the ability to secure land lease and spatial planning agreements Aware of the project’s strategic importance the municipality and national authorities have played a key role in ensuring a positive outcome on these fronts Invest Lithuania helped facilitate talks between the central government Expert assistance was provided on land lease procedures revision of land use planning documents and investment project design The project is being implemented by the Visaginas municipality as part of Lithuania’s regional policy framework – the Utena region ITI programme This is one of 10 regional programmes aimed at integrated development of small and medium cities Total investment for the project “(Demolition of derelict buildings and site clean-up to regenerate former military campus” is EUR 2 967 711 with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 2 333 555 through the “Operational Programme for EU Structural Funds Investments for 2014-2020” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period The investment falls under the priority “Promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility” Lithuania's parliament has approved new laws on the proposed Visaginas nuclear power plant clearing the way for the establishment of the project development company and the signature of contracts In passing new laws on the nuclear power plant and on the granting of the concession for the project members of parliament have endorsed both the construction of the new plant and its siting in the Visaginas municipality They have affirmed their approval of Hitachi as the strategic investor for the plant and that the project will be based on Hitachi-GE advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) technology the two laws will allow commercial investors including Hitachi and regional partners to conclude discussions on setting up the project company to build the plant Visaginas is a joint project supported by the governments of Estonia and investors from all three countries - Visagino Atominė Elektrinė (VAE) (Lithuania) Latvenergo (Latvia) and Eesti Energia (Estonia) - are to take shareholdings in the plant alongside Hitachi's 20% the project company will then be able to sign an engineering procurement and construction (EP&C) contract with Hitachi-GE Construction would begin after the final investment decision Lithuania's property obligations regarding the plant would also need to be approved by parliament after the final investment decision is made adopted the draft law on the nuclear power plant by 70 votes in favour with 2 against and 2 abstentions The Seimas also adopted a protocol resolution proposing that residents living within 50 km of the plant could receive electricity discounts of up to 50% off standard rates The laws must also be signed by the Lithuanian president before they can come into effect Researched and writtenby World Nuclear News kodas: 300781534 Įregistruota LR įmonių registre registro tvarkytojas:Valstybės įmonė Registrų centras lrytas.lt redakcija news@lrytas.lt Pranešimai apie techninius nesklandumus pagalba@lrytas.lt Atsisiųskite mobiliąją lrytas.lt programėlę Lithuania has chosen Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy a consortium of Japan’s Hitachi and General Electric of the US as the strategic investor for the planned nuclear power plant in Lithuania Runner-up in the bidding was another Japanese-US company This project should replace the Soviet-era nuclear power plant which Lithuania had to shut down as a condition for joining the EU That closure exacerbated the Baltic States’ dependence on Russia for energy The selection of Hitachi-GE marks the first time since the March 11 accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant that a Japanese company is chosen to build a nuclear power plant in another country Lithuania’s decision means that Hitachi-GE has won the preferential negotiation rights for the project (Yomyuri Shimbun The project envisages building a Baltic regional nuclear power plant at Visaginas in Lithuania All four countries as well as the strategic investor are expected to finance the project as shareholders The Lithuanian government selected the strategic investor based on pre-announced criteria including: the technology offered the level of equity commitment as shareholder evidence of ability to complete the project on schedule and on budget readiness for a prompt start of preparatory work and evidence of ability to build and operate the plant as well as to decommission it at the end of the reactor’s service life The selected investor will provide the equipment Hitachi-GE will install two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWRs) This is a third-generation nuclear reactor type in service and on order in Japan and abroad Toshiba-Westinghouse offered two AP 1,000 reactors with a capacity of 1,154 megawatts each (BNS The Lithuanian government assessed the two reactor types as equally advanced and reliable technologically but selected Hitachi-GE’s proposal on commercial considerations: “This is a commercial project that must produce competitively-priced electricity” (BNS Estimates of the project’s costs have ranged between 4 billion Euros and 6 billion Euros ($5.5 billion to $8.5 billion) The Lithuanian government will now start negotiations with Hitachi-GE to finalize the financial terms and contractual details before the end of the current year If these final negotiations turn out to be unsuccessful the government reserves the right to negotiate with the runner-up bidder Toshiba-Westinghouse The contract will be subject to parliamentary approval Lithuania hopes to see the contract signed by the end of 2011 the start of preparatory ground work in 2012 and the first electricity to be produced in 2020 Lithuania had initially announced an open international tender for the project Only the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) submitted a bid but withdrew in December 2010 for undeclared reasons The Lithuanian government then started direct talks with other companies on the premise that the winner would have to perform the dual role of technology provider and strategic investor Japanese companies showed interest in Lithuania’s project in the wake of the Fukushima accident With the suspension of new nuclear power projects in Japan and a political backlash against nuclear energy in other countries Hitachi-GE and Toshiba-Westinghouse turned their attention to the project in Lithuania The US participation made these options especially attractive in the Baltic region The new plant at Visaginas should replace the Soviet-era nuclear power plant at the same location That plant had supplied the Baltic States with electricity from the plant’s two RBMK-type reactors required their closure as a safety precaution stipulating this in the accession treaty with Lithuania The two reactors were accordingly shut down in 2004 and 2009 An EU-assisted decommissioning process is ongoing That shutdown left the region with a deficit of electrical power It forced countries to import electricity from Russia and added electricity dependence to the gas and oil dependence of the Baltic States on Russia The regional project for a nuclear power plant enjoys public support in the Baltic States for both economic and security considerations a Lithuanian city built for the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant workers during the Soviet times is one of the most curious places in the country to this day the city is subject to various photo projects one of which was carried out by Indian photographer Prashant Rana Prashant has been documenting Visaginas for seven years He has now published a book called A Peaceful Atom and exhibited his work both in Vilnius and Visaginas his first encounter with Lithuania was almost accidental when he was studying photojournalism in Sweden a Lithuanian woman posted a link to an article about Roma children in Lithuania under one of his photos on social media “It said that more than 11 percent of Roma children go to special schools How can children from one particular community be so challenged I came to do a university project and spent roughly four months in Kirtimai taking photos of Roma children,” Prashant says The project was exhibited by the Department of National Minorities at Vilnius Town Hall It was here that Prashant met a person from Visaginas who called the city a “Russian bubble” and suggested that the photographer come and see it for himself the expression ‘Russian bubble’ was interesting because I come from a country where we speak 300 languages more than 3,000 dialects and there are so many cultures and religions It was hard for me to imagine how one city could be a ‘bubble’ of just one language,” the man explains Prashant admits that he was intrigued by the city but did not find it interesting at first because visually it looked similar to the Soviet-built neighbourhoods in Vilnius or other cities in Lithuania “But then I went back to Sweden and searched Visaginas I discovered many articles about Visaginas all of them focusing either on the link between Chernobyl and Visaginas or the separation of this community I then decided to continue coming back,” he says Or the concept of segregation based on language was also something that I didn’t understand I decided to explore that which was new for me,” the photographer explains his motivation The Indian photographer spent seven years going back to Visaginas exploring the different layers of the city and its population Visaginas had gone through several changes that “challenged the identity of its people” there was migration to the city during the Soviet time with many Ignalina NPP workers coming from Russia with their families as Lithuania did not have enough nuclear scientists at the time Then came the collapse of the Soviet Union which made people question who they were and where they belonged which had been the centrepiece of the city since its inception as it was one of the conditions for Lithuania’s EU accession “Something was happening there every decade and I entered the scene just one year before the nuclear power plant project was officially closed I could see that something had changed in Visaginas That kept me interested in the city,” Prashant says Asked how his project stands out from others the photographer says he did not want to focus so much on the “nuclear identity” of the people of Visaginas “I feel that Visaginas is now beyond the nuclear identity I didn’t want to put that nuclear label on them,” Prashant explains “I think that is something different that I bring to the table I’m talking not so much about Visaginas but about how societies function – when you take away someone’s identity by force or voluntarily they have to kind of rebuild that identity and that is what I focus on,” he continues In the photos exhibited in Vilnius and Visaginas Prashant focused more on the space and architecture of the city “Choosing the photos for the exhibition was very conscious because I still see a big imbalance between the population and the empty houses in Visaginas I want the photos to convey that this is a city created for more people than it has now,” the photographer says Prashant’s book A Peaceful Atom also includes a series of portraits of Visaginas residents with QR codes leading to them talking about their city “You can listen to the people talk so that there is less of me and I’m just reflecting myself in the photos But the person has the right to speak for themselves and their city,” he says they still think that the government is responsible for their well-being they are just worried about work and employment The younger generation is trying to explore new possibilities and they are thinking about some entrepreneurial ideas about having more tourism in Visaginas,” the photographer summarises what he has learnt while talking to Visaginas residents Prashant says that he would like to keep coming back to Visaginas working on photo projects all over the world but is hoping to stay in Lithuania for a longer period “I find a balance of life here that I don’t find in other countries I would like to have an apartment in Visaginas and work there if I have to do research or write something because it’s a peaceful place,” he admits Prashant says he would like to work as a photo editor or teacher in Lithuania if such opportunities arise he is planning to focus on his next photo project about Tibetan migrants in India Tuesday World Subscribers only Israel prepares large-scale Gaza offensive to achieve lasting occupation World Subscribers only Romania enters government 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Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris where Russian-speaking residents make up three-quarters of the population Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has heightened tensions By Jacques Follorou (Visaginas (Lithuania) special correspondent) ALEXANDER WELSCHER/DPA /PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA REUTERS When the train stopped on the grassy single track of Visaginas station it was impossible to let go the impression of having crossed a border In this Lithuanian town surrounded by forests and lakes the Russian-speaking community represents three-quarters of the population in a country where this figure averages 5% the language needed to buy tickets or order a coffee Non-Russian-speaking local officials are sometimes accompanied by a translator Moscow's invasion of Ukraine raised delicate questions of loyalty among the population and troubled the authorities This question remains topical a year and a half later, as NATO is due to hold its annual summit on July 11-12 in Vilnius at the entrance to this town of 20,000 residents some 50 people had gathered in front of the monument celebrating the Soviet Union's victory over Germany in 1945 the small group had defied a ban on the demonstration to show their support for the Kremlin regime You have 80.49% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial bustling with young professionals from all over A towering ghastly concrete structure on the outskirts of the town is a far cry from what the site known as the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) and the town hosting it looked like in their best days – from the 1980s when already independent Lithuania took it offline Hopes were high that Visaginas (the names of Visaginas and Ignalina are used interchangeably – L J.) would see a recovery with the arrival of the Japanese whom Lithuania has entrusted with construction of a new 5 billion euro 1358-megawatt nuclear plant to replace the old one But a national non-binding referendum on the need for the plant held in 2012 together with a parliamentary election saw 63 percent of voters reject the plan and elect a Social Democrat-led government that It not only phased out atomic energy in the country but also created a bunch of socio-economic issues of enormous scope that are still haunting Lithuania the unemployment level in the Ignalina and Visaginas municipalities was at a staggering 14 percent at the inception of the year a former energy minister in the Conservative government during 2008-2012 and once a staunch supporter of the Japanese-led nuclear venture still believes that the positive impact on Visaginas’ infrastructure from a new nuclear power plant would have been wide encompassing many fields of life – Hitachi was aiming to turn Visaginas into a high-tech «smart» town with a «smart» power grid new communications infrastructure and even a Japanese bank There would have been a high added value from other investments into the region,» Sekmokas told BNN the Visaginas project would have not only ensured Lithuania’s energy security but would have significantly enhanced Lithuania’s geopolitical «weight» in the region and has prevented Belarus from building the nuclear power plant in Astravyets former chief of the National Commission for Energy Control and Prices of the Republic of Lithuania (formerly VKEKK) «If Lithuania had embraced the new Visaginas nuclear power plant project being pursued by the Japanese Lithuania would not have not necessarily gone from an electricity exporter to an importer due to the enormous costs of a nuclear power project That we keep importing electricity is not because of our incapacity to generate enough of it here but because the electricity from other countries with which we are on the Nord Pool Spot electricity exchange and through which we are buying the bulk of electric power they had mulled building a nuclear power plant well before the Japanese got interested in our new Visaginas NPP project Just perhaps they did not pinpoint it being in Astravyets,» Jankauskas told BNN Former President calls it a «very grave mistake» But the similarity of two Soviet Ignalina NPP RBMK reactors which meltdown in 1986 triggered an environmental and public health catastrophe for years to come – the nuclear particle-filled clouds have made way as far as thousands of kilometres away stoked fear not only for the Soviet-era atomic station but doomed nuclear energy in the country on the whole Few top Lithuanian politicians have ever come as much fiercely in defence of the old plant as Rolandas Paksas a former euro-parliamentarian and an impeached President «I’ve been always saying and I keep telling everybody that the decision to close the plant has been one of the very worst decisions that Lithuania We lost the plant and our energy independence because of our servile obedience to Brussels and the politics which can still be characterised as politics of an ostrich,» Rolandas Paksas told BNN «The regulations of 2006 European Council did allow us to extend operations of the plant’s second reactor until 2012 with two conditions in effect – that Lithuania was in acute shortage of domestically produced electricity and that our nuclear safety was compromised We matched both,» Paksas is still convinced the former director of the Ignalina power plant who are known for their affinity with nuclear power have helped Lithuania much with the Ignalina facility «Even they told us that it was pretty safe» he said admitting that the whole decommissioning has been tinged with politics the town without a nuclear power plant will never be the same thousands of people from all over the Soviet Union came for the construction and work at the new nuclear plant The European Union has destroyed the town with the closure of the plant Many have pinned their hopes on the Japanese young people do not stay here long,» Viktor Afanasjev a once respected engineer at the Visaginas plant In its 16th year since the closure of the Visaginas NPP’s first reactors Lithuania is still grappling with difficult issues stemming from the management of nuclear waste Some of the used fuel was removed from the reactor after its final closure in 2009 but the remainder had to wait for the opening of an Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility (ISFSF) in late 2019 According to the Energy minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas about a third of nuclear waste held at the facility has been processed and taken away over the last decade and 70 percent of spent nuclear fuel has been loaded into special storage But the decommissioning will be fully completed only in 2038 «when a green meadow will be all that remains in the 80-hectare territory» the chairman of the Seimas Commission for Energy and Sustainable Development has called this week the Ignalina decommissioning «too heavy a burden» on the national budget although the EU has approved 490 million euros earlier this week for the decommissioning of the Ignalina NPP through 2021-2027 The good news is that the country’s co-financing share has been lowered Lithuania was allocated 837.4 million euros from the EU budget for the Ignalina decommissioning in the 2007-2013 period and another 450.8 million euros in 2014-2020 VILNIUS - Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis promised on Friday to ensure that people in the mostly Russian-speaking town of Visaginas continue to have access to free Lithuanian language courses a program for teaching the state language free of charge so that people here can feel full-fledged citizens have access to the main information channels and (...) be able to acquire qualifications education," Skvernelis said during Friday's visit to the eastern Lithuanian town where the shutdown Ignalina nuclear power plant is located "We will consider returning to that special program so that both young and elderly people could improve their language skills free of charge," he added Visaginas Mayor Dalia Straupaite told BNS that Lithuanian-language courses have been offered for free around 100,000 euros are allocated annually for the courses with part of the money provided by the town's local authority and another part from the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning program The prime minister proposed that it should be continued We thank the prime minister for that," she told BNS According to the latest population census conducted in 2011 ethnic Russians account for 52 percent of the population of the Visaginas municipality and Lithuanians make up nearly 19 percent.  A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy The nuclear power plant project in Lithuania is a regional not merely a national project (“Lithuania Chooses Hitachi-General Electric to Build Nuclear Power Plant,” EDM The Visaginas project is intended to meet electricity demand on a region-wide basis Its commerciality will be optimal if the three Baltic States and Poland participate as stakeholders Negotiations on apportioning the financial stakes and sharing the future output of electricity Hitachi-GE might be offered as much as 51 percent of the shares while the remainder would be divided among Lithuania and potential investors from Estonia Moscow seeks to discourage investment in the Visaginas project by proposing two nuclear power plants in Lithuania’s immediate proximity: one in the Kaliningrad territory Both are intended to create the appearance of commercial threats to the Visaginas project Either one of the Russian proposals (if taken at face value) or the Lithuanian-based project are mutually exclusive competitors in the regional electricity market Moscow seeks to discourage investment in the Visaginas project by suggesting that Russia would build a project of its own pre-empting the Baltic regional electricity market in Russia’s favor have only scant chances of becoming real projects if the Visaginas contract is signed Moscow can only bluff with its offer to loan 9 billion Euros ($12.74 million) to Belarus for a nuclear plant there This move seems mainly designed to trigger Lithuanian protests over environmental and safety issues Moscow and Minsk fail to answer Lithuanian and international queries about compliance with safety criteria and environmental norms No such study or any real plan is known to exist behind this Russian proposal a decoy to create the appearance of a rival to the Visaginas project Some in Lithuania would like the government to campaign against the Russian-proposed plant in Belarus would lend this decoy project an aura of reality that it would not otherwise possess Inadvertently it would support Moscow’s attempts to confuse the potential investors in the Baltic regional project the Lithuanian government is raising the proper questions about Moscow’s and Minsk’s intentions at Astravets avoiding loud statements and without politicizing the issue An even more effective approach would include proposals to Belarus to join the Visaginas project; or commit to purchasing electricity from it Russia proposes to build a nuclear power plant that would export electricity within the Baltic region (i.e. The proposed site is also located in immediate proximity to Lithuania Russia offers up to 49 percent of the shares to companies from EU member countries Moscow has also invited the Baltic States themselves to join the proposed Kaliningrad nuclear project instead of the regional Baltic nuclear project in Lithuania All of these overtures have failed thus far has announced an ambitious time-table to commission the first nuclear reactor in 2016 and the second by 2018 lack plausibility in the absence of investment partners and commercial markets for the electricity output Moscow might only make headway with a Kaliningrad nuclear project by co-opting some German or Polish business groups interested in importing or transiting low-priced electricity from that project That possibility seems even less likely following the selection of Hitachi-GE as strategic investor for the regional Baltic project and provided that the Visaginas project moves forward with the three Baltic States and Poland Estonia has repeatedly turned down the Kaliningrad option clearly favoring the Lithuanian project (BNS Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered Latvia a stake in the Kaliningrad plant in January of this year but Latvia’s then-president Valdis Zatlers turned it down (BNS and the current Latvian government under Valdis Dombrovskis has demonstrated a clear interest in joining the Visaginas project and the upcoming parliamentary elections pose the risk of bringing an alliance of Latvian oligarchs and local Russians to government has made a series of ambiguous statements about the Visaginas project most recently on July 19 while visiting Lithuania (BNS Russian-proposed nuclear plants in Kaliningrad or Belarus resemble Russian tactics with the South Stream gas project To discourage investment in the EU’s Nabucco project Russia attempts to create the appearance that it can pre-empt the regional gas markets Moscow proposes the Kaliningrad and Belarusian projects in hopes of making the Baltic regional project look redundant but can only succeed by avoiding delays that might turn the Kaliningrad project from virtual to real works at the furniture factory Visagino Linija in Lithuania’s Visaginas The man says it is difficult to find a job in Latvia but there are many vacancies and higher salaries in Lithuania “Let me put it this way: you can find a job in Latvia so it is not difficult for me here,” Sokolov told LRT TV Tatyana Tretyakova also commutes to Visaginas from Daugavpils She says she was looking for a job in Latvia and even considered going abroad to work she saw a job offer in Lithuania and decided to stay closer to home “I saw a job offer [in Lithuania] on social media I filled in an application and within half an hour I got a call offering me good conditions,” she said “I’ve only been working for half a month and I haven’t received my full salary yet I really like it here and I’m glad I didn’t have to go abroad to work,” the woman added The furniture factory Visagino Linija employs 700 people According to the company’s director Andrius Lickanas the Latvian population is a great help to employers in northeastern Lithuania as the labour market in this region is already exhausted “The situation is such that there are more orders Searches are taking place all over the region and since we are close to the Latvian border the radius naturally extends to our neighbouring country,” Lickanas explained “We have also been working with the Latvian Employment Service Latvians working in Visaginas are paid more than the minimum wage Company vehicles also provide transport to and from work Latvian workers enjoy the same benefits as Lithuanians which is the same for Latvians in Lithuania We have our own canteen where we reimburse catering services and we have a gym where our employees can do sports so they don’t have to go to work every day which is also very convenient,” said Lina Kislaja Daugavpils is part of Latvia’s Latgale region an associate professor of economics at Vilnius University The average wage in the region is 894 euros after tax compared to the Latvian average of 1,213 euros unemployment statistics are also very poor the average registered unemployment rate is 5.1 percent people want to get out of it,” Bartkus said Latvians who come to work in Lithuania not only receive much higher salaries but they can also benefit from lower prices in shops “Latvian products are cheaper in our shops than in their own shops in Latvia This means that people here not only get a higher salary and a job but also have the opportunity to buy cheaper Latvian products every time they return home,” Bartkus said He predicts that even more Latvians will enter the Lithuanian labour market The fact that jobs are being created here allows us to solve the social problems of that region of Latvia,” the economist said The Vilnius-Turmantas train pulls into the Visaginas Station just over two hours after departing the capital named after the first secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party Antanas Sniečkus received the town status after Lithuania gained independence from the USSR and was renamed Visaginas The town around the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) was built by people who came from all over the Soviet Union: at one time its population represented 45 nationalities more than half of Visaginas is Russian-speaking and national media has long labelled the town as “Russian” women in their 40s are sitting next to each other two older ladies are discussing their children – a daughter in Germany That is not at all so different from what might encounter in the main cities of Lithuania: Vilnius The town is situated in the middle of a pine forest and it seems that nature prevails over man here more than half of the population was not born in Lithuania which is four times more than elsewhere in Lithuania The youngest Lithuanian town has seen its fair share of crises in the last 47 years the construction of INPP Unit 3 was suspended and in 2001 Lithuanian authorities began decommissioning the first reactor due to concerns about the safety of the plan as a condition for EU accession which once generated more than 85 percent of the country’s electricity lost its strategic importance to the central government thousands of local residents lost their jobs and the town’s population shrank by almost half Elena Urazova came to the town in 1986 from Novovoronezh All of Elena’s family is in one way or another connected with nuclear power: her brother worked at the Leningrad nuclear power plant Elena was not hired by INPP and ended up working as a kindergarten teacher “And then a window to Europe opened up,” she says After Lithuania’s accession to the EU in 2004 it became possible to travel freely and live in Europe “Look how many young people there are,” the woman points to the promenade by the lake Elena Urazova obtained Lithuanian citizenship a long time ago we were presented with a fact: either you keep working and accept Lithuanian citizenship Elena got used to being a Lithuanian citizen I am close to both Russian culture and the Russian language Elena gets her information mainly from the internet and social media She never had special TV packages to watch Russian channels when they were still available Russian TV channels were banned in the country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Elena is categorical: no one in her entourage wanted war has been engaged in social activities in Visaginas for the last few years where instruction was exclusively in Lithuanian I didn’t understand anything for half a year but then I started to adjust and get used to it,” he recalls he managed to learn Lithuanian and successfully completed his studies Alexei Urazov considers himself “100-percent Lithuanian” who speaks fluent Russian “I identify myself as a happy resident of this country,” he adds is from Klaipėda and moved to Visaginas six years ago “There is no point in being afraid of the language knowing any language is useful and important And to forget the language because the occupiers speak it is senseless,” she is convinced She says that there are many people in the town who “are not occupiers who are not evil” – she speaks with them in Russian and is able to communicate Vilija understands that self-identification is an acute issue in Visaginas everything about her national identity was obvious many in the town have not yet answered the question clearly for themselves Another employee of the art residence Tochka is 24-year-old Maxim After graduating from school he went to study in Denmark but I was self-conscious about speaking it So going to study abroad was a natural decision,” says Maxim He is the first in his family to speak Lithuanian the young man decided to return to Visaginas where he saw more opportunities for self-realisation “It’s virgin land here and I understand people better,” he says although when asked what he thinks of his national identity Maxim is convinced that stereotypes about Visaginas come from the fact that there are still people who support Russia and its actions Even “if there are five such people for a town of 19,000 it is immediately visible from the outside and a stereotype takes hold instantly” the young generation of Visaginians have long made up their minds to support Ukraine and condemn Russia’s aggression The four residents of Visaginas see their future here Elena Urazova would like “to see more people with initiative even if sometimes driven by little more than sheer enthusiasm” She notes that more and more Lithuanian-speaking young families Alexei tries to burst the “bubble” Visaginas has been living in for more than 30 years after 30 years of living in independent Lithuania many are now reconsidering whether they are Russian now and as they often say: If you really like being Russian He thinks that 30 years of Lithuanian culture have practically bypassed Visaginas but at the same time blaming the older generation of Visaginians for it is unfair built it from the ground up,” Alexei reasons “It may be hard for them to read this interview but everyone understands that the town needs to change.” not once did we have an impression of not being in Lithuania Lithuanian and Russian could be heard in equal measure older people promenading with their families speak Russian A coffee shop by the lake has every trapping of one in the capital It serves trendy “flat whites” as well as filtered Chemex coffees There are several places to have lunch and dine Visaginas has a hotel and a sports complex After the release of the HBO TV series Chernobyl much of which was filmed at the Ignalina nuclear power plant the Visaginas has gained new fame among tourists one is bound to come across videos by vloggers who go to Visaginas to experience something unique Some may be disappointed not to see a Lenin monument or Russian flags on the main square There are no Russian chansons playing from the loudspeakers of the public alert system which was left after the shutdown of the power plant even if with a slight accent and a few mistakes This story originally appeared at Novaya Gazeta Baltya Located amid pine woods and lakes in the eastern part of Lithuania the Soviet-era nuclear town is surrounded by nature of exceptional beauty Locals sometimes joke that everyone has a lake there The town was built 44 years ago for workers of the now defunct Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant Most of its 20,000 residents are Russian-speakers If it weren't for street signs or shop names The massive Soviet-era building housing the town's administration is the only place where the Lithuanian language prevails A tourist who doesn't speak Russian may have difficulty calling a taxi asking for directions or getting other information the Ignalina NPP generated the bulk of Lithuania's electricity The plant's closure deprived the town of what was written in its DNA Visaginas has been experiencing a kind of renaissance boosted mostly by HBO's ‘Chernobyl’ miniseries the popular miniseries has fueled interest in nuclear tourism The facility's overseers now struggle to cope with the influx of visitors who want to see Ignalina's RBMK nuclear reactor the same type as the one that exploded in Chernobyl in 1986 Visaginas Mayor Erlandas Galaguzas says tourist numbers have soared since the miniseries was aired which has proved a big challenge for the town “I can't say we are ready for that amount of tourists We have to think about how to attract tourists not only to the nuclear power plant itself but also to make them stay in our town,” he says Although a tour of the plant costs nearly 60 euros the facility is fully booked up to the end of the year senior engineer at the plant's Radioactive Waste Management Service thinks the fate of the Ignalina nuclear facility was inseparably linked to that of the Chernobyl plant The situation changed radically in the wake of the nuclear disaster and Lithuania committed itself to shutting down its Soviet-built plant as a condition of its EU membership Galaguzas agrees that the shutdown of the plant in 2010 delivered a huge blow to the town of Visaginas “The future seemed dim and uncertain,” the mayor says adding that the nuclear town is now coming to terms with a new reality We're all used to the nuclear plant generating no electricity and no money,” he said that Visaginas will stick to its nuclear identity for many years to come the plant will continue to exist as a nuclear location for hundreds of years The complex is to be razed to the ground in 2038 but there will still be companies that will manage the buried nuclear waste Visaginas eyes nuclear tourism and investment The success of the HBO miniseries and growing tourist flows have offered Visaginas a glimpse of a profitable vein to exploit who had himself worked at the Ignalina plant for years says the town is determined to tap into that vein and further develop nuclear tourism We'd really like to work in that direction We are a unique town in terms of nuclear tourism so we'll probably stay in this area and try to develop it,” he said “We're planning to set up an innovative information centre that would give information on how things were during the operation and dismantling of the plant.” such as a new factory that is being built by the international medical device producer Intersurgical in Visaginas is expected to give an economic boost to the town The new facility is to be launched next year with plans to employ about 200 people initially and increase the workforce to 1,500 in the future Galuguzas says Visaginas is already in talks with other potential investors Lithuania (AP) — An HBO miniseries featuring Soviet-era nuclear nightmares has sparked global interest in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and boosted tourism in Lithuania which served as the filming location for “Chernobyl,” has become a destination of so-called atomic tourism since the program aired earlier this year Mikhail Nefedyev was staring grimly at the row of blinking green lights on a control panel when another group of curious visitors poured into his realm The 64 year-old engineer explained to them what exactly happened when a similar reactor exploded in Chernobyl The Ignalina plant is of the same prototype as the one in Chernobyl It has similar blueprints and the same water-cooled graphite-moderated reactors with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts of power Closing and decommissioning it were key conditions of Lithuania’s entry to the European Union in 2004 was one of the republics affected by the nuclear disaster Thousands were sent to clean up the mess in Chernobyl the nuclear disaster is helping Lithuania grow as a tourist destination “Chernobyl,” a highly-rated miniseries continues to send curious watchers to the filming locations in the capital Vilnius and at Ignalina where glowing uranium rods cool in concrete pools But what happened long ago does not bother us now I think looking backward is not good,” Nefedyev said after explaining how the RBMK-type reactor blew up Tourists who come to this Baltic coastal country of 3 million to see the HBO filming locations first visit the KGB museum in downtown Vilnius where interrogation scenes were shot They are taken to a Soviet-era district of gray condos built in the mid-1980s that look somewhat like Pripyat a nuclear city that served the Chernobyl plant “People come to see these places that we never used to promote This is very new and unusual to see them not in the Old Town taking photos of Baroque churches but sporting selfies here,” said Inga Romanovskiene Already a popular movie-making destination Lithuania has benefited economically from the HBO miniseries The amount of foreign capital spent on filming reached 45.5 million euros ($50.6 million) last year atomic tourists may opt to travel 160 kilometers (100 miles) north and join a three-hour tour of the nuclear plant white clothes and shoes before venturing through a maze of long turbine hangars and the control center with the red button which was pushed just before the explosion drinking and smoking are strictly off limits The plant tour costs 67 euros (75 dollars) per person and tickets are sold until Christmas came from the United Kingdom to see the whole thing with her own eyes “It feels like you are stepping back into one of the scenes actually And I remember seeing about Chernobyl on the news but I’m so much more interested in what happened and the events having seen the drama series So I think it has kind of ignited an interest that I wasn’t aware of at the time,” Adams said after the visit to a Soviet-era district used by HBO as a filming location for Pripyat Antanas Turcinas was among those sent to Chernobyl weeks after the disaster He hopes the buzz from the miniseries leads to better care for survivors “This movie has brought back old memories because in 1986 we did not understand what we faced I am happy to be still alive,” he said Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser The Russian fashion historian and TV host Alexandre Vassiliev has accepted the invitation to house his 500-million-euro fashion collection in Visaginas with regular exhibitions expected to draw visitors from across the country and beyond The Alexandre Vassiliev Foundation's collection was previously housed in the Lithuanian Museum of Applied Arts and Design but was transferred last week to a former children's clinic in Visaginas Visaginas mayor believes that this event will improve the image of the town which has been looking for a new identity It was built in the 1970s to service the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant which went offline in 2009 and is now in the process of decommissioning Visaginas is also seen as somewhat detached from the rest of the country and has recently been in the news for its relatively slow pace of vaccination Read more: People in Lithuanian town shun AstraZeneca vaccine claiming safety fears But Mayor Galaguz says the criticism is somewhat unfounded while cultural events could be the best way to bring Russian and Lithuanian-speaking communities together This is a big event for Visaginas: the collection of Alexandre Vassiliev has already been delivered to the city The agreement with the Foundation was signed at the end of last year but how did you get the idea to place the collection in Visaginas last year we made a decision at the council to sign a cooperation agreement with this Foundation and we signed an agreement on providing it with premises only last week This happened quite spontaneously due to the fact that we learned from the media that they were looking for premises and now a really big thing for our town is happening: the Alexandre Vassiliev Foundation will be based here Read more: ‘Visaginas and Chernobyl are inseparably linked’ – Lithuanian nuclear town sees future in tourism and industry How quickly did you manage to find a place for it I cannot say that we found the premises quickly We held three or four meetings with representatives of the Foundation I personally showed these people the premises; not all the locations we offered were suitable it will almost completely belong to the Foundation which has not been used for its intended purpose for many years the heating system functions well; there the Foundation will be able to hold its exhibits Vassiliev's collection contains many historical costumes which may require special storage conditions: humidity Have you discussed these points or will the Foundation itself take care of it These issues will be dealt with by the Foundation since they decided that these premises suit their needs The municipality does not bear any responsibility for the safety of this collection this is taken care of by the Foundation itself does the Foundation undertake to hold at least two exhibitions a year the Foundation undertakes to organise at least two exhibitions which will be free of charge for the Municipality We hope that the exhibitions will interest not only our residents but also guests from other cities and countries Where exactly will these exhibitions be held We showed them the potential location for that – and we think it will be the Visaginas Culture Centre Vassiliev himself posted a very emotional message on social media about Visaginas giving him the opportunity to keep his collection there How would you describe the importance of this occasion for the city I believe that this gives us a lot; of course but the very fact that such foundations come to cooperate with us in Visaginas is invaluable we are proud that we will have the Foundation here after the closure of the nuclear power plant [the medical device manufacturer] Intersurgical They built a completely new plant in our town and now they are already working The business centre Spiečius was recently opened now we have an Academy of Creativity and Arts We are proud that we were able to invite very experienced directors both to the academy itself and to the Culture Centre There are changes in the sports life of our town: we have completed the construction of a rowing base that meets all the best standards There are investments in our urban infrastructure: we are starting the construction of a new bus station the town has been criticised in the media; first for the high incidence rates of the coronavirus Commentators again started calling it a ‘Russian-speaking enclave’ And what do you think can be done to improve the town's image we've lost a lot of time in building the image of the town and I must admit that in this area Visaginas lagged behind others in Lithuania and that this image must somehow be changed Maybe we should pay more attention to information campaigns there will be an article about a young family who believe one where you can get decent formal and informal education we have a well-established connection with Vilnius; you can live in Visaginas and make use of the cultural advantages of the capital no worse than those who live in Vilnius itself there are some signs that vaccination in our town is slower but to get everyone immune to this disease as soon as possible we must take into account the fact that we had an outbreak of infections and very many people already have immunity And to demand from them that they still be vaccinated we are one of the leading towns in Lithuania Šalčininkai and even Klaipėda are said to be exposed to Russian propaganda and more often listen to what is said on Russian TV than to the Lithuanian authorities Do you notice that living and working there but one must look at this objectively: if a person understands the state language [Lithuanian] poorly or does not understand it at all they will receive more information from the media in the language they know we try to provide information about vaccination and about our country in Russian And which sources of information are dominant is difficult to say I would not say that our people are more attuned to the Russian media You say that many residents of Visaginas use Russian and often do not speak Lithuanian What is being done to change this situation Our preschool institutions and schools are divided into Russian-speaking and Lithuanian-speaking parents are more inclined to send their children to Lithuanian-speaking kindergartens And we think that our kindergartens should not be only Russian or only Lithuanian; in the same kindergarten there could be groups of Russian and Lithuanian children and these children would teach each other and our residents are beginning to understand this I think that most people already understand this But what do you think could motivate adults to learn Lithuanian in a town where you can go about your business completely in Russian Taking the opportunity that on April 15 we celebrate the Day of Culture it is probably connected with this; we must go through culture I mean culture in the broadest sense of the word; culture of communication I myself saw that when good theatre productions came to our town even people who spoke Lithuanian very poorly came to see the performances This movement closer to each other should be mutual this is an incentive to learn another language 800 AstraZeneca vaccines are sitting in the refrigerator and not a single resident of the city has been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca [jab],” Visaginas Mayor Erlandas Galaguz told the LRT’s Russian-language radio service.Around 800 residents have already received the Pfizer jab.“I think it’s because there is a lot of conflicting information in the media and people are somehow afraid,” said Galaguz .“They heard that people had some additional symptoms” after receiving AstraZeneca shots nine European countries have temporarily halted vaccination with AstraZeneca vaccine due to several cases of blood clotting following the vaccination and Luxembourg have only stopped using the doses from one specific batch which was supplied to 17 European countries Read more: Lithuania will not follow Nordics in suspending AstraZeneca vaccines Lithuania’s Health Ministry is now launching an information campaign in Russian “Not all residents of our country watch central television and there is a need to receive information in Russian,” said Galaguz adding that the municipality has also “simplified the registration [process] for residents wishing to be vaccinated” he has requested the Health Ministry for permission to dispense the unused doses to anyone wishing to get vaccinated PHOTO: DELFI / Andrius Ufartas In an effort to attract new investment an eastern Lithuanian town where the shutdown Ignalina nuclear power plant is located is considering setting up a free economic zone (FEZ) and is currently in talks with several new investors Visaginas Mayor Erlandas Galuguzas says finding a good site for a FEZ around the town is quite a challenge "We have started to talk about the creation of a FEZ but we have certain problems here," Galuguzas told BNS "The town and the municipality are unique in that they have little free land left Fitting it is a task that requires a lot of thought," he said The mayor said the municipal administration is considering offering additional incentives to businesses to attract more investments to the town "We are in talks with the EU's structures and the government on incentives not only to private individuals If we managed to negotiate incentives to business structures I think we would be competitive and attractive," he said an international medical device producer that has a disposable respiratory care product factory in Prabrade is building a new production facility in Visaginas The new factory is expected to be launched next year with plans to employ 200 people initially and increase the workforce up to 1,500 in the future The international medical device producer now has a disposable respiratory care product factory in Prabrade Galuguzas says Visaginas is holding talks with more investors "We are in talks on the arrival of a new investor there are several more investors who are thinking (about investing in the town)," he told BNS Lithuania now has seven free economic zones: in Kaunas Naujoji Akmenė was established in western Lithuania in 1952 to service a newly built cement factory The area where the city appeared was rich in limestone crucial for mass construction in the Soviet Union Naujoji Akmenė was built around an axis that led to the main city building – a cultural centre and workers' housing The city mainly featured small apartment buildings and symmetrical neighbourhoods intertwined with greenery Elekrėnai was established midway between Vilnius and Kaunas in 1961 to house workers of a nearby power plant The city is a legacy of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s era “Elektrėnai exemplifies the modernist functional planning of the 1960s it features a circular street that envelopes residential houses,” an architectural historian Marija Drėmaitė told LRT TV.The city planners also designed separate functional zones including a public zone with cultural centres and shops as well as a recreational area along the lake with sports and concert venues Elekrėnai features large monolith residential houses Visaginas was established in 1975 as a town for Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant workers It embodies late Soviet modernism that rejects monotonous housing and adopts organic planning houses are scattered in clusters in the pine forest […] Residents can reach the city centre in eight minutes on foot from any neighbourhood It was called “8-10 minutes planning”,” Drėmaitė said Visaginas was built using Leningrad nuclear town Sosnovy Bor as a model Lithuanian architects were allowed to design only a few buildings and Naujoji Akmenė are exceptional because of their mono-industrial function The cities were established to serve one large industrial enterprise “People in these cities work and live together But mono-industrial cities are very fragile because their wellbeing depends on one enterprise’s stability,” the architectural historian said The film crew were able to enter the closed complex and even climb on top of the reactor an experience which can also be enjoyed by tourists to the site cameras and other personal belongings before entering the site Wear protective clothing and special footwear at all times smoking or chewing gum is permitted in the controlled zone It is recommended that the touching of door handles be avoided These are some of the radiation safety rules that must be observed by all visitors taking part in excursions to the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant No concessions were made for the Chernobyl film crew shooting of scenes for the series took place over four days; episodes involving firefighters divers and miners were shot (the impressive scenes of the reactor burning were shot in a studio) who was in charge of the different shooting locations the film crew spent 1.5 hours in security checks every day: “The group involved in the shooting at the nuclear power plant – 50 people – was well trained: they arrived wearing sports clothes so they could change into protective clothing quickly; the group was checked by a separate shift that had the required size footwear and uniforms prepared in advance.” each member of the creative team carried individual accumulative dosimeters throughout the shooting and the group was accompanied by a security officer at all times were also involved in the shooting at the INPP territory which is only an hour and a half’s drive from Lithuania’s capital offers popular excursions to its controlled INPP zone These excursions need to be booked up to two months in advance and last two and a half hours The power plant currently employs about 2,000 people about a third of the number that was employed when the reactors were in operation (the first block of the INPP was decommissioned in 2004 current employees are quite happy to chat about their life and work in Visaginas Almost 100,000 visitors from around the world have visited the plant since the opening of the information centre of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in 1995 is the operating simulator of the INPP block control panel Set up when the power plant was being built the simulator has been used for training employees and exploring solutions to emergency situations visitors have the chance to see how the power plant control simulator in operation this simulator served as a model for the Chernobyl creative team The simulator is the most visited object in Visaginas The “nuclear town” was built in 1975 to accommodate the employees of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant Visaginas is the youngest municipality in Lithuania the town’s outline is similar to a butterfly’s wings which is why Visaginas is sometimes known as the town of butterflies the outline of the butterfly is lacking one wing: following the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant the construction of the third block of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was suspended and eventually terminated altogether Visaginas has less than 20,000 residents and only 14 streets as was immediately noted by the creators of the Chernobyl series this was intentional as the town was planned to ensure evacuation could be conducted without delay the residents of Visaginas take their driving tests in the neighbouring town of Utena Hiroshima and Nagasaki provide adventurous tourists with examples of what has become known as military nuclear tourism as the Ignalina Nuclear Plant is currently undergoing safe dismantling it can be designated as a site for peaceful nuclear tourism for tourists seeking a truly novel experience the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant is waiting for you “I would not like to see it done at taxpayers' expense,” admits Rimvydas Baltaduonis professor at Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania A nuclear power plant would lead to centralization of energy production in Lithuania leaving little space or resources to developing other energy sources shows that decentralized energy production is more reliable and safer He talks to 15min about nuclear and renewable energy and the new topic in Lithuania's energy debate – The new nuclear power plant has been the hottest topic in public debate for some years now Another and arguably more important project Is the power plant truly of paramount importance or are we simply asking wrong questions We come up with more ways of generating electricity with people themselves producing energy for their own needs We see much space for innovation and creativity Since we have a lot of creative people with ideas in Lithuania it might not be the best idea to concentrate on one project one vulnerable to manipulations by various interest groups it is something to be considered and discussed is a much more open way of talking about it Other interest groups are not silent either – they try to present their own arguments – If we were to build a new nuclear power plant that would mean investing billions of taxpayers' money and centralizing electricity production Why do strategists of the Lithuanian energy sector seem suspicious of decentralization I would be inclined to support a project that could draw private investment and would not depend on taxpayers' money as a backing against failure – I would be inclined to support a project that could draw private investment and would not depend on taxpayers' money as a backing against failure If private capital is reluctant to take on the risk We have seen other gigantic projects that faltered as governments changed Perhaps it would be possible to have an agreement among different parties Perhaps private capital would then be more willing to join the project If the project and its risks are too great for private investors it might be advisable to consider  alternatives it would be an elephant in the room that one could not ignore If private investors could envisage dividends from nuclear electricity we would be hearing more of their arguments I would not like to see it done at taxpayers' expense Once our electricity sector is integrated into that of the European Union we will have ways of selling electricity generated at the nuclear power plant would still need to be covered by the citizens of Lithuania considering our demographic situation and dwindling population – There are numerous calculations regarding projected costs and electricity production price It is near impossible to categorically claim that the costs will be this or that We must look more broadly – demography and macroeconomic factors will also have an impact We do not know which way the electricity will flow – from Scandinavia to Poland and Lithuania or the other way Since we are now talking about the state's involvement in the project the situation is more complicated – the state would be taking on commitments We can see that electricity demand in developed countries is not growing as fast as it used to this can be explained by the recent economic crisis but many people in developed nations use power-efficient appliances New technologies do not require as much power to light a home or a new office building These changes in everyday lives is what will make energy sector grow nots as much as we're used to seeing it grow If the demand stabilizes and Lithuania adopts new technologies Perhaps we have no need for such enormous projects We do not need the kind of centralized system that we had – Two concepts are particularly popular in the public debate right now The conservatives speak of energy independence while economists and energy specialists prefer energy security Which is more important to Lithuania – independence or security which will allow us to import gas from other countries [than just Russia] It has already had an effect – Gazprom realizes very well they have not been dealt as good a hand as before They will doubtlessly try to make good use of the monopoly they have but we've already got a trump card in our hands As I observe the changing situation due to the shale gas revolution I think that the geopolitical situation in Lithuania will get less threatening Energy security is no simple matter either After hurricane Sandy swept through New York it was great to see “energy islands” in homes that had their own power generators These homes had working fridges with cold ice-cream and could invite friends to a party to discuss recent events in a lit room Many people realized that they could not rely on the centralized system alone because it went bust if something happened I believe that the US will reconsider its strategy as well Some say that the share of distributed energy is in fact an index of quality of a system there are technical requirements for certain energy generation sources in order to maintain grid security But we do not need the kind of centralized system that we had – Grid security needs some basic level of power generation Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant would be the source ensuring it how should we look at grid security – in the framework of Lithuania or that of Europe build ourselves wind power plants and let Europe's major energy producers – the Scandinavian countries and France – take care of this basic generation basic energy generation does not necessarily have to be based in the Lithuanian territory I had an opportunity to visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US Scientists at the laboratory have done studies on how much renewable energy the grid could support in the future And the conclusion was that up to 60-80 percent The problem arises when energy producers start asking for subsidies That skews the market and makes it harder to see which technology solutions are viable The United States is a big country where wind blows all the time renewable energy would not seem so reliable then the wind will always blow somewhere and the sun will always shine If we are all connected in one conductive grid then the base energy generation does not have to be concentrated in one country or state – Our LNG terminal was given a lofty name – Independence But will one terminal alone suffice to ensure this independence Gas market monopoly will be turned into an oligopoly What other crucial reforms do we need in our gas sector – I think that the more connections we have with the Western countries and the trading world the safer Lithuania's energy system will be The terminal is one of such connections with the Western world We are building electricity links to Poland Energy generation sources within the country are also important arises when they start asking for subsidies I would support a market with a multitude of energy production and supply methods competing with one another both our consumers and businesses will have the best possible conditions to buy energy and use it to generate added value it is state subsidies that decide how energy sectors will develop I've spoken to my colleagues who grew up in Pennsylvania and know the region well They tell me that water used to catch fire even before shale gas extraction began The region is so rich in gas that it seeps through various cracks and that's nothing new it is much harder to adopt laws on subsidies for business very many previously regulated industries have been liberalized The US is much less into subsidizing simply because it is much more difficult to pass laws programmes to support certain technological solutions or innovations The difference between the EU and the US is that the US delivers support through innovation rather than direct subsidies to particular kinds of energy the price for solar energy set considerably above the market price something like that is very difficult to achieve the authorities cannot set a price for energy Government support would have to come via innovations – The Finns are speaking of a smart grid that would allow optimal energy use a washing machine in your home would turn on when the wind starts blowing What other innovations can we expect in the future – Smart grid opens up a lot of opportunities Communication between digital meters and the centre alone can save a lot of money energy suppliers had to send people to people's homes every month to check the meters now the same data can be obtained much more easily Smart grid technology allows to spot breakdowns in the system and the company has to send a helicopter to fly along the line for several hundred kilometres until it finds the spot there already are many solutions to manage household energy consumption one can programme some electric appliances to shut down if electricity price goes up Household energy consumption can respond to electricity prices in the wholesale market by switching to energy generated with sun collectors I have students who have told me about how they used to live in New York and make some money by selling energy to the city the state with the biggest shale gas potential “The US industry has achieved that water and air protection laws do not apply to them such distinctions do not exist and environment protection laws would be enforced much more strictly “The US case is exceptional also because land owners own everything underneath their property and can have economic benefit from it underground resources do not belong to people who own the surface – and that generates additional conflict,” Baltaduonis says a documentary that shows inflammable water coming from taps “I've spoken to my colleagues who grew up in Pennsylvania and know the region well “What I care about is that we in Lithuania have well thought-out environment protection regulations will clearly defined responsibilities – who would be responsible for any unforeseen consequences or proper safekeeping of chemicals used in the fracking process – in case we decide to extract shale gas,” Baltaduonis says covered in 12 metres of lights was unveiled in Anykščiai Christmas mail can be found inside the Christmas tree in Marijampolė The Visaginas Christmas tree is unique – it grows in Santarvės square where it was decorated Kretinga’s silver Christmas tree is covered in 20,000 white lights The Christmas tree in Naujoji Akmenė was unveiled during a light show The Joniškis Christmas tree is growing next to the town’s Cultural Centre Ten smaller trees hold the shroud of the main Christmas tree in Ignalina The Gargždai Christmas tree is covered in more than 8,000 LED lights The Mažeikiai Christmas tree is decorated with a shroud of golden lights Druskininkai unveiled a Christmas tree decorated with a golden crown Alytus has decided to go for a more modest Christmas tree to emphasise “community and not decorations” The Panevėžys Christmas tree features huge decorations The Christmas tree in Palanga is one of the most innovative this year The main Christmas tree is accompanied by a 25-metre-long Christmas train