NUCLEAR-POWER IN LITHUANIA - PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Electricity supply in Lithuania depends very strongly on the operation of the Ignalin Nuclear Power Station, a plant equipped with two RBMK- 1500 reactors (which, for reasons of cooling, may be operated only at 1250 MW each by order of the authorities). When Lithuania achieved its national independence in the early nineties, the country suddenly pos sessed that nuclear power plant without having the infrastructure nece ssary to operate it. At the present time, a licensing and supervisory authority as well as an expert consultant organization are being built up. An atomic energy act and a national set of rules and regulations on the use of nuclear power are being debated. Universities and resear ch institutions are being oriented towards problems of reactor safety. Bilateral and multilateral cooperation programs have been designed to support the licensing authority and the expert consultant organizatio ns in their functions. A safety report for the Ignalin Nuclear Power S tation was compiled and evaluated with Western support. This is also t rue of measures conducted to improve reliability and safety in operati on, and to upgrade engineered safeguards. The process of drafting a lo ng-term strategy for consolidating the power economy in Lithuania ia i s to be completed still in 1995.