It was proposed to be built at the site of the closed Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, which was shut down on 31 December 2009 in accordance with Lithuania's accession agreement to the European Union.

After a 2012 referendum found that 62.7% of the electorate was against the project, Belarus started construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, which will lie geographically very close to Visaginas.

[4] On 26 January 2006, in the conference in Vilnius, the representatives of all three Baltic states discussed the realization study for construction of a new Power station in the region.

On the basis of this communiqué, on 8 March 2006, the heads of Lietuvos Energija, Eesti Energia and Latvenergo during their meeting in Ignalina signed a memorandum of understanding on the preparation for construction of a new nuclear reactor in Lithuania.

[10][11] However, LEO LT was dissolved at the end of 2009 and the responsibilities for construction of the nuclear power plant took over the special project company Visagino atominė elektrinė.

[15] On 30 July 2014, Lithuanian Energy Ministry and Hitachi signed a memorandum, declaring intentions to jointly perform preparatory work for setting up an interim project company.

[19] The Environmental Impact Assessment approval was appealed by a coalition of NGOs (Community Atgaja from Lithuania, the Latvian Green Movement, CEE Bankwatch Network and Greenpeace).