"The button was pressed at 7.57 pm (1757 GMT) and the reactor was finally halted at 8.02 pm (1802 GMT)," Viktor Shevaldin, general manager at the Ignalina plant said.

"The process was smooth and went according to schedule. We have completed our obligations," he added.

The Ignalina plant, which until now has supplied more than 70 percent of all energy consumed in the Baltic state, operated two Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors.

In EU membership talks Lithuania pledged to close the first reactor by January 1, 2005 and to decommission the plant completely by 2009.

The EU has been concerned about safety at the Ignalina plant, as it operates the same kind of reactors as in Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant which exploded in 1986, triggering the world's worst civil nuclear disaster.

Lithuania needs some 1,800-1,900 Megawatts of energy in winter.

The EU has promised to finance the costs of closing of the plant, estimated at 2-3 billion euros (2.5-3.75 billion dollars) over 30 years, and has already allocated more than 200 million euros to prepare decommissioning of the first unit.

Some 3,500 people currently are employed at the plant.

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