The fortunes of Visaginas are inextricably linked with the power station itself. Whilst most people today are engaged with the act of decommissioning the station, the impact of its closure goes beyond employment.
'There was a time when they used our bodies to cool the reactors,' was how one local described how the hot water generated by the power station used to be pumped from the station via a network of huge pipes to heat the homes of the residents of Visaginas. Cheap energy has now been replaced by expensive, oil burning sourced power.
Having completed much of this project during the Autumnal and Summer months, we returned to Visaginas to get a sense of the town when sub-zero temperatures are the norm and the town is at it most stark. The appreciation of how limitless heat from Ignalina has helped maintain the lives of the residents of Visaginas and how this has been replaced by high energy costs is even more apparent through the frozen months.
