Decommissioning a Dream
Se in the remote Lithuanian border town of Visaginas – a former Soviet town that is defined by its founding purpose of housing the workers and builders of what was once one of the world’s most powerful nuclear power stations. The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant secured an energy independence for Lithuania but the prospect of a former-Soviet nuclear power plant that shared the same RBMK design as Chernobyl operating in Europe, proved unpalatable for Brussels and its decommissioning became a central condition of Lithuania’s acceptance into the European Union. With unprecedented access to the deeply-guarded inner sanctum of the power station itself, the impact of the plant’s closure on the largely Russian-speaking people of Visaginas is shared by the first generation to grow up in the town. Their first-hand view on how rapid change impacts a community that was bound by the shared purpose of building a more certain future, provides a powerful and touching insight into what is involved, both financially and in terms of human endeavour, on a vital aspect of nuclear power that is often overlooked and over-simplified – especially pertinent at a time when nuclear power is becoming an increasingly relevant component in the global energy mix.