Lithuania closed Ignalina's two RBMK-1500 reactors, Chernobyl-type graphite units, in 2004 and 2009 as a condition of EU accession. State company Altra is dismantling the plant with mostly EU funding; about 46% of planned dismantling was done by June 2026, reactor core dismantling of Unit 2 is due to start end-2026, and all work should finish by 2050.
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Current state
| Status | Active dismantling |
| Country | Lithuania |
| Location | Visaginas |
| Site | Ignalina |
| Units | Unit 1, Unit 2 |
| Unit count | 2 |
| Reactor types | RBMK-1500 |
| Net capacity (MWe) | 2,370 |
| Owner / licensee | Altra (Ignalina NPP state enterprise) |
| Decommissioning contractor | Altra; Westinghouse subsidiaries (steam drums) |
| Strategy | Immediate dismantling |
| Final shutdown | 2009-12-31 |
| Decommissioning start | 2010 |
| Target completion | 2050 |
| Cost estimate | EUR 2.5bn (as of 2026-07) |
| Spent fuel | All fuel moved to the on-site ISFSF dry store (202 CONSTOR casks) by April 2022. |
| Notable issue | Removal of graphite reactor cores from RBMK units has never been done at this scale. |
Notes
Cost: 'over €2.5bn' per WNA. Target conflict: WNN quotes reactor dismantling by 2043 and all work by 2050, and elsewhere 'fully decommissioned by 2038' (older plan); 2050 used.
Timeline
- 2004-12-31 — Ignalina 1 was permanently shut down. (source)
- 2009-12-31 — Ignalina 2 was permanently shut down. (source)
- 2014 — Dismantling of Unit 2 commenced. (source)
- 2022-04 — Transfer of spent fuel to the interim storage facility was completed. (source)
- 2026-04-10 — Altra said dismantling of Unit 2 reactor channels would begin at end-2026. (source)
- 2026-06 — About 83,400 t of equipment, 46% of the planned total, had been dismantled. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related sites
- Biblis Nuclear Power Plant (Units A and B) Active dismantling · Germany
- Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant (KBR) Active dismantling · Germany
- Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant (KKB) Active dismantling · Germany
- Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant Fuel removal · Taiwan
- Chooz A Active dismantling · France
- Crystal River Unit 3 Site restoration · United States
- Doel Nuclear Power Plant (Units 1-3) Shut down · Belgium
- Dounreay (DFR and PFR fast reactors) Active dismantling · United Kingdom
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- Nuclear Power in Lithuania — World Nuclear Association, checked 2026-10-11
- Dismantling of reactor channels to begin at second Ignalina unit — World Nuclear News, checked 2026-10-11
- Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities — Altra (Ignalina NPP) (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Nuclear decommissioning assistance programme of the Ignalina nuclear power plant — European Parliamentary Research Service (primary), checked 2026-10-11