Vėtrūna confirms it has suspended works at Ignalina site, Nukem claims the opposite

Meanwhile, Nukem claims that Vėtrūna has not stopped working on the projects.

“Vėtrūna suspended works at the construction site on Thursday due to overdue payments. The company is ready to carry out works under the projects after resolving the payment issues,” Vėtrūna CEO, Rolandas Baškys, told BNS.

He assured that Vėtrūna had not pulled out of Ignalina’s decommissioning project. “A contract has been signed and the agreements reached during earlier talks remain in effect,” Baškys said.

Meanwhile, Beate Scheffler, corporate communication director at Russian-owned Nukem Technologies, the contractor for the INP decommissioning projects, stated on Friday that the talks with Vėtrūna were continuing.

“Nukem Technologies and Vėtrūna are now negotiating amendments to contracts. In particular, they seek to agree on the solutions that will enable to speed up the remaining works. The negotiations will be continued next week...,” she said in a press release on Friday.

Rumors that Vėtrūna had pulled out of construction at the INPP due to “missing” payments from Nukem Technologies were untrue, Scheffler said.

Meanwhile, sources told BNS that the amounts payable to Vėtrūna by Nukem were approximately six months overdue and the number of workers at the site was being reduced gradually from January when the talks were opened. Approximately 50 workers worked at the construction site in May.

Nukem Technologies and Vėtrūna signed a contract early in August 2010. Vėtrūna was hired to build a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. It was also engaged in the construction of facilities for the solid radioactive waste storage complex.

The INPP says on its website that the project of spent nuclear fuel storage facility, which was initially valued at 590 million litas (EUR 171 m), runs 44 months behind the schedule. Meanwhile, the 428 million litas worth project of solid radioactive waste storage complex runs 53 months late.

Meanwhile, Nukem has stated on its Lithuanian-language site that the construction of the interim spent fuel storage facility is approximately 90 percent complete and the works on the solid waste management and storage facilities project are approximately 60 percent done.