Lithuania’s only nuclear plant races to decommission radioactive waste with no margin for error

Lithuania’s Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), now rebranded as *Altra*, is engaged in an unprecedented decommissioning process that must safely dismantle and dispose of radioactive waste—including reactor components and spent fuel—by 2038, state broadcaster LRT reports.

One-third of the plant’s 1,500 employees focus solely on handling radioactive waste, processing an average of five containers weekly. “If you decide to step inside [certain areas], you’ll have exactly one minute,” warned Sergejus Bogatovas, shift supervisor of the radioactive waste management division, describing the strict safety protocols.

The facility, once a Soviet-era energy giant, now manages not only its own legacy waste but also radioactive materials from Lithuania’s medical and scientific institutions—the only site in the country equipped for such work.

**A decommissioning challenge without precedent**
Built without a shutdown plan, Ignalina NPP now faces the task of dismantling two RBMK reactors—a design unique to Soviet-era plants—along with thousands of contaminated components. “No one considered decommissioning back then,” said Dr. Gintautas Klevinskas, head of the radioactive waste disposal division. “Today, we’re dealing with unprecedented challenges that make the work fascinating.”

The plant’s reactor design, where fuel assemblies were placed in numerous separate channels (visible as colored squares in historic photos), complicates dismantling. Some procedures developed at Ignalina are the first of their kind globally, drawing interest from other nations. “In the future, we could share our expertise with countries undertaking similar projects,” Klevinskas noted.

**Waste storage: a centuries-long commitment**
Radioactive waste is sorted into three hazard categories and stored accordingly. Low-level waste is compacted, placed on specialized pads, buried under soil, and covered with grass. The resulting mounds—already visible on the plant’s grounds—will require 30 years of monitoring *after* decades of formation.

Lithuania is also searching for a deep geological repository site, with a 2035 deadline to begin storing higher-level waste underground. The final spent fuel removal from reactors occurred around four years ago, but full decommissioning—including dismantling all structures—must conclude by 2038.

Once a Cold War symbol that birthed the company town of Visaginas, Ignalina now represents a state obligation spanning centuries. Its solutions, born of necessity, may yet set global standards for nuclear decommissioning.