International efforts to assist Lithuania with the decommissioning of its only nuclear power station have reached an important milestone, with the last of the spent fuel removed from the reactors at Ignalina.

The European Union and 14 European governments have supported the work through the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund (IIDSF), which is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The EBRD said the final cask – the special container used to store spent nuclear fuel safely and securely – was transferred to the interim spent fuel storage facility, bringing the total number of casks stored there to 190, loaded with 15,555 spent fuel assemblies from the Ignalina reactors and storage ponds.