Today I want to take you to the most Westerly part of Lithuania and one of the most Easterly – the towns of Nida and Visaginas respectively.
Let us begin with Visaginas. This town of almost 34’000 people, located in a corner of Lithuania bordering Latvia and Belarus is famous for having an almost entirely Russian population and Lithuania’s only nuclear power station. Established in 1975 the town was built to house the workers of the nearby Ignalina Nuclear Power Station, most of who were brought to Lithuania from other parts of the Soviet Union. Whereas most Lithuanian towns have at least some remnants of an old town – including old wooden buildings or a church, Visaginas is an example of Soviet functionality – A collection of grey concrete and red brick blocks, yet set beside a lake and with tall pine trees everywhere. The town could almost be said to be built in a forest, rather than near it.
A short drive from Visaginas through countryside that feels bleaker and bleaker you will arrive at Ignalina Nuclear Power Station. The first unit of the nuclear plant started generating power in 1983 and at the time was the world’s most powerful nuclear power station. The design and build is the same as that most infamous of Soviet power stations – Chernobyl. Fortunately lessons have been learnt and modification made so I hope not to be engulfed in a cloud of nuclear radiation any time soon. The EU have told the Lithuanian authorities that the aging reactor must be decommissioned by the beginning of 2010. Most experts and the news here in Lithuania seem unconvinced that this will be the case.
Discussions are being had between the three Baltic States and Poland to build a new nuclear plant in the region under a new power-bridge agreement– allowing power to be shared on a regional grid system.
On April 16th Russia, casting an ever present shadow over the region and looking for more ways to flex its energy muscles, announced its desire to build a brand new plant in the Kaliningrad oblast which is currently dependant on the Baltic States, through which energy passes from Russia. The announcement is deeply provocative. The region is clearly too small to contain two nuclear plants and thus by beginning to build its own plant in the region before the EU States it would hope to cause the region to become dependant, not only on Russian oil, but also Russian atomic energy. The Russian company has suggested that 49% of the power generated could be passed to its EU neighbours. For now, it may simply be provocative words, but it may help the stalling negotiations between Poland and the Baltic countries to make quicker and further progress in building a new plant.
Let us begin with Visaginas. This town of almost 34’000 people, located in a corner of Lithuania bordering Latvia and Belarus is famous for having an almost entirely Russian population and Lithuania’s only nuclear power station. Established in 1975 the town was built to house the workers of the nearby Ignalina Nuclear Power Station, most of who were brought to Lithuania from other parts of the Soviet Union. Whereas most Lithuanian towns have at least some remnants of an old town – including old wooden buildings or a church, Visaginas is an example of Soviet functionality – A collection of grey concrete and red brick blocks, yet set beside a lake and with tall pine trees everywhere. The town could almost be said to be built in a forest, rather than near it.
A short drive from Visaginas through countryside that feels bleaker and bleaker you will arrive at Ignalina Nuclear Power Station. The first unit of the nuclear plant started generating power in 1983 and at the time was the world’s most powerful nuclear power station. The design and build is the same as that most infamous of Soviet power stations – Chernobyl. Fortunately lessons have been learnt and modification made so I hope not to be engulfed in a cloud of nuclear radiation any time soon. The EU have told the Lithuanian authorities that the aging reactor must be decommissioned by the beginning of 2010. Most experts and the news here in Lithuania seem unconvinced that this will be the case.
Discussions are being had between the three Baltic States and Poland to build a new nuclear plant in the region under a new power-bridge agreement– allowing power to be shared on a regional grid system.
On April 16th Russia, casting an ever present shadow over the region and looking for more ways to flex its energy muscles, announced its desire to build a brand new plant in the Kaliningrad oblast which is currently dependant on the Baltic States, through which energy passes from Russia. The announcement is deeply provocative. The region is clearly too small to contain two nuclear plants and thus by beginning to build its own plant in the region before the EU States it would hope to cause the region to become dependant, not only on Russian oil, but also Russian atomic energy. The Russian company has suggested that 49% of the power generated could be passed to its EU neighbours. For now, it may simply be provocative words, but it may help the stalling negotiations between Poland and the Baltic countries to make quicker and further progress in building a new plant.
For more information and pictures of the Ignalina plant take a look at
Travelling towards Kaliningrad, you will eventually come to the town of Nida. This lies on the unique geographical feature called the Curonian Spit or Kuršių nerija. Legend says that Neringa, a giantess daughter of the gods, gathered sand in her apron and placed it in the sea to protect the Baltic fishermen from storms. It is a little more likely the Spit, which is essentially a large collection of sand dunes, held together by pine trees, rare grasses and shrubs came into existence around 6000 years ago by sand drifts from further west along the coast, making it one of the most recent geographical features in the whole of Europe.
My two French friends with whom I travelled were amazed by how similar it felt to the South of France, and with weather as good as the last few days, it easily could have been. In fact, even having lived in Lithuania for almost 3 years, I could hardly believe I was in the same country. Rather it felt like a mixture of a desert as I walked on the dunes and a Suffolk sea-side village as I walked in the harbour watching men renovate their boats.
Bon vacances!
The Great Dune - Looking south towards Kaliningrad
1 comment:
Hi,
Recently we had a series of posts on Ignalina, http://atomwatch.blogspot.com/search/label/Ignalina.
Would be interesting to hear your opinion as a Lithuanian, what do you think about the Ignalina closure planned next year.
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