1.1.1 Population and Nearby Industrial Surroundings
The Ignalina nuclear power plant is located on the northeast corner of Lithuania, close to the borders with Belarus and Latvia, Figure 1.1. The plant is situated on the southern shore of Lake Druksiai, 39 km from the town of Ignalina. The nearest cities are the Lithuanian capital Vilnius (130 km away) with a population of approximately 575,000, and the city of Daugavpils, in Latvia (30 km away), population 126,000. The plant’s closest neighbor is the town of Visaginas, the residence of the Ignalina nuclear power plant personnel. The town is located 6 km from the plant and has a population of about 32,600. All distances given above are flight distances. The main information about the distribution of population in the region is presented in Table 1.1.
The density of the population inside 15 km radius is 14.4 people/km2, excluding Visaginas, and 63.1 people/km2, including Visaginas. Within 25 km the density of the population is 18.6 and 35.6 people/km2, respectively.
The plant uses lake Druksiai as a natural reservoir for cooling water. The shape of lake Druksiai and location of Ignalina NPP are presented in Figure 1.2. Dash line shows circulation of cooling water in lake Druksiai. Other lakes and rivers i n the vicinity of the plant are:
Fig. 1.1 Location of Ignalina NPP
Table 1.1 Population distribution
|
Populated area |
Distance from INPP, km |
Direction |
Population |
|
Villages and |
inside 15 km radius |
- |
11,400 |
|
farmsteads |
inside 25 km radius |
- |
30,400 |
|
Visaginas |
6.5 |
southwest |
32,600 |
|
Turmantas |
12 |
northwest |
0,400 |
|
Dukstas |
15 |
southwest |
1,200 |
|
Zarasai |
25 |
northwest |
8,900 |
|
Daugavpils |
30 |
north |
126,000 |
|
Ignalina |
39 |
southwest |
7,200 |
|
Utena |
64 |
west |
37,000 |
|
Ukmerge |
120 |
west |
30,800 |
|
Vilnius |
130 |
southwest |
575,000 |
|
Panevezys |
140 |
northwest |
132,100 |
|
Jonava |
158 |
west |
36,900 |
|
Kedainiai |
168 |
west |
34,500 |
|
Kaunas |
186 |
west |
415,300 |
|
Radviliskis |
192 |
northwest |
21,000 |
Fig. 1.2 The shape of lake Druksiai and location of Ignalina NPP [1]
Dash line - circulation of cooling water
The nearest highway passes 12 km west of Ignalina NPP. This highway links the town of Ignalina with those of Zarasai and Dukstas, and has an exit to the highway connecting Kaunas and St. Petersburg. The entrance of the main road going from Ignalina NPP to the highway is near the town of Dukstas. The extension of the road from Ignalina NPP to Dukstas is about 20 km.
The main railroad line Vilnius - St. Petersburg passes 9 km west of Ignalina NPP. A single track extends from Visaginas to Dukstas. The rest of the main line connecting Vilnius and St. Petersburg is double-track. The weight limit of the train is 3500 tons. The railway station Dukstas is used for cargo traffic as well as for passenger transportation.
1.1.2 Meteorology
The Ignalina NPP is situated in the temperate climate zone. The region climate can be considered as homogeneous in the global sense. But on the regional scale it is rather unstable, because of the prevalent intrusion of air flows from the adjacent geographical zones. In comparison with other Lithuanian areas, this area is marked by a big variation of air temperature over the year, the colder and longer winters with abundant snow cover, and warmer, but shorter summers.
The average annual air temperature in the region is 5.5°C. In the spring (March - May) the average temperature is 5.1°C, in summer (June-August) is 16.1°C, in autumn (September-November) is 6.1°C and in winter (December-February) is -5.5°C. January is the coldest month with an average monthly temperature of -6.5°C, and June is the warmest one with 17.8°C. Annual amplitude of average monthly temperatures is 24.1 degrees. Absolute maximum of recorded tempera-ture is 36°C, and absolute minimum is - 40°C [2].
During the year about 170 atmospheric fronts pass over the Ignalina territory. Winds from west and south predominate. The strongest winds are directed from west and southeast. The average annual wind speed is 3.5 m/s, and the maximal (gust) speeds can reach 28 m/s. In the spring the average wind speed is 3.1 m/s, in summer - 2.7 m/s, in autumn - 3.4 m/s, and in winter - 3.7 m/s.
The average annual precipitation with correction on moistening of draught gauge is 638 mm. Minimum of precipitation occurs in February (around 31 mm), and the maximum - in July (around 85 mm). The snow cover in the region is about 100-110 days per year. The average height of snow cover is 30-40 cm [2].
The average annual relative humidity of air reaches 80%, and is around 90% in the winter. The minimum relative humidity (53-63%) is observed in June, and the maximum - in January [2].
In the Ignalina NPP area fog is observed virtually all year round. The average number of days with fog is 45 and the maximum - 62 days.
1.1.3 Site
The Ignalina NPP site arrangement is shown in Figure 1.3, as well as in Appendix 1. The plant site is approximately 0.75 km2. The buildings take up about 0.22 km2.
The Ignalina NPP has two similar reactor units (Figure 1.4). Each unit consists of five buildings designated as A, B, V, G and D. There are two separate reactor buildings A1 and A2 adjacent to a common building D1 and D2 housing the main control rooms, electrical instrumentation and deaerators. The last building is adjacent to a common turbine building, G1 and G2. The distance between the main buildings of the plant and the shore of lake Druksiai is around 400-500m.
Both units have the following common facilities:
The building which houses the 12 emergency diesel generators (six diesel generators per unit) is physically separated from other buildings. A separate service water pump station is also built for each unit serving the needs of an uninterrupted supply of cooling water.
Fig. 1.3 Ignalina NPP site arrangement [3]:
1,2 - service water pump stations; 3 - acetylene bottle depot; 4 - oil depot; 5 - oil system equipment; 6 - transformer equipment ; 7 - sewage pump station; 8 - hydrogen/oxygen receiving; 9 - low-level radwaste; 10 - medium and high level waste; 11 - shower water tanks; 12 - waste water tanks; 13 - radwaste processing building vent stack; 14 - bitumen store; 15 - liquid waste storage; 16 - chemical water treatment building; 17 - chemical water treatment tanks; 18,19 - changing facilities; 20, 21 - gas purification systems; 22 - heat supply station; 23,24 - Units 1 and 2, respectively; 25,26 - ECCS accumulator; 27,28 -tanks for clean low-salt water; 29 - vehicle wash; 30 - bitumen depot; 31 - special laundry; 32 - chemical reagent depot; 33 - equipment store; 34 - noble gas bottle depot; 35 - reservoir with artificial evaporation; 36 - repair shop; 37,38 - administrative buildings; 39 -cafeteria; 40 - diesel generators; 41 - compressor and refrigeration station; 42 - nitrogen and oxygen building; 43 - liquid nitrogen tank; 44 - 110/330 kV switchyard
Fig. 1.4 General units arrangement:
A1, A2 - reactor buildings; B1, B2- low salt water and MCC bypass water treatment facilities; V1, V2 - reactor gas circuit and special venting system; G1, G2 - turbine generators with auxiliary systems, feed facilities and heat supply facilities; D1, D2 - control rooms, electrical equipment and deaerators; D0 - heat pipe service and fire fighting facilities