Polski
The construction of a nuclear power plant, like many other investments, requires obtaining what is known as a “nuclear power”. environmental decision. It is in this document, issued on the basis of a previously prepared report, that information on the extent of environmental impact, minimization and compensation measures of the planned construction will be included.
What is the process for obtaining an environmental decision?
The standard process for obtaining an environmental decision involves conducting the necessary field surveys and inventories, preparing an environmental impact report, conducting a three-week public consultation and, finally, issuing an administrative decision.
However, the planned construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant is a rather unusual undertaking. Nationally, we don’t have many investments with such a large impact and level of complexity. Accordingly, the Chief Director of Environmental Protection (GDOŚ), who leads the procedure for issuing an environmental decision, has introduced a slightly different course of action.
Proceedings for a nuclear power plant
The procedure for issuing an environmental decision for the nuclear power plant began in August 2015. After less than twelve months, the proceedings were suspended (in June 2016) for an even six years. The procedure resumed in June 2022, immediately after the environmental impact report was submitted.
The documentation is extremely voluminous – in excess of 20,000. pages. Accordingly, the GDOŚ has made the environmental impact report available on its website so that everyone can read the documents even before the public consultation is announced. This is a rare solution that allows wider access to materials and preparation of comments and proposals at an early stage of the work. However, GDOŚ stresses that the released report and additional materials are versions under review, so they are subject to changes and additions. This is all the more likely because numerous institutions, such as the Polish Waters, maritime authorities and the sanitary inspection, are working to verify the documents.
The second deviation from the standard procedure is the announced duration of the public consultation. By law, it should be 21 days. It is already clear that they will last at least eight weeks – that’s almost three times longer than usual. We can assume that the announced long period for collecting comments and opinions from the public, on the one hand, is related to the very extensive material subject to consultation, on the other hand, to the unique and complex nature of the case. After all, this will be the first consultation for a nuclear power plant in Poland.
Range of impact of the planned power plant
Just how complex an issue the construction of a nuclear power plant is can be illustrated by the projected range of impacts, which forms the basis of the concluding public consultations under the transboundary environmental impact assessment procedure. This coverage includes 15 countries! From Finland to the Netherlands. This is due to the necessity of also adopting the most adverse variant for environmental impact assessment and associated with the failure of the power plant on an unprecedented scale.
The sheer extent of a nuclear power plant’s impact under its normal operation is many times smaller, as you can find out by reading the only report on the subject so far.
