23 Aug (NucNet): The dismantling of the turbine hall equipment at Lithuania’s Ignalina nuclear power station has been completed, a statement on the station’s website said. The total mass of the dismantled equipment during the project, which started in October 2011, amounted to 18,159 tonnes and included turbines, generators, heat exchangers, pumps, valves and piping, the statement said. According to the statement, work on the initial treatment of the dismantled waste, which involves "crushing, decontamination, radiological measurements and packaging" is now under way and will continue until 2019. The two Soviet RBMK units at Ignalina were shut down in line with requirements for Lithuania’s membership of the EU. Ignalina-1 was shut down in December 2004 and Ignalina-2 in December 2009. In January 2016, the Ignalina station said in a statement that 23.4 percent of the total amount of equipment at the plant had been dismantled. Decommissioning works at Ignalina are scheduled for completion in 2038.
