VILNIUS, September 1 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Vodo) - Lithuania may fail to fulfill its obligations to the European Union to shut down the second power-generating unit of the Ignalina nuclear power plant by late 2009 due to a lack of funds, a senior Lithuanian MP said Thursday.
After considering a report on the use of funds allotted for the closure, Arturas Skardzius, the head of the parliament's audit committee, said the closure of the plant would have a negative influence on all of Lithuania's companies and the interests of the population.
According to experts, the measure, which comes under a treaty with the EU, will cost Lithuania $14.8 billion: $5.1 billion will cover expenses on the closure itself, including the disposal of nuclear materials, and $9.7 billion will be sustained in losses to the economy and the republic's social spheres.
Moreover, the plant's closure will mean existing power plants will have to be modernized and new ones built. In addition, environmental work will have to be conducted after the plant's closure and the power transmission system will have to be improved.
The first power-generating unit of the Ignalina nuclear power plant was shut down on December 3, 2004 under the terms of Lithuania's accession to the EU. The second power unit should close in late 2009.
International experts have already said that Lithuania might continue running the Ignalina power plant, because the first power unit, which was commissioned in 1983, could remain in operation until 2028 and the second one until 2032.
