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Tadas MatulionisLietuvos Energija AB

Strategic planning manager

Minsk, December 07, 2007

Environmental Impact Assessment of a New Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania

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Contents

• EIA process

• Project description

• EIA program

• Parties involved in the EIA procedure

• Planned schedule

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The ,,nature” of an EIA

• EIA brings the environmental issues ”in” to the planning project so

that they are taken into account together with the economic and

technical issues

• EIA increases interaction between the project developer and

stakeholders and also between stakeholders

• it is necessary to carry out the EIA well before any decisions have been

made: only this makes a genuine assessment of different alternatives

possible

• as a result of the early timing, the input technical information is not

very accurate in EIA, but the impact evaluation is comprehensive and

versatile. The inaccuracy of the input information is compensated by

using ”worst case” assumptions

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EIA process

Preparation of the EIA program

Public informing, coordination and approval of the EIA program

Approved EIA program

Preparation of the EIA report

Public informing, coordination and approval of the EIA report

Approved EIA report

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The planned project

• In the EIA the impacts of a new NPP of at most 3400 MWe is evaluated

• Two alternative locations within the territory of the current Ignalina NPP are assessed

• All commercially available and technically feasible plant types will be taken into consideration

Alternative site 1

Alternative site 2

INLET

OUTLET

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EIA Program

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Contents of the EIA program

• Chapter 1: General information

• Chapter 2: Description of the EIA-procedure and its schedule

• Chapter 3: Plan of communication and participation

• Chapter 4: Description of alternatives

• Chapter 5: Technological processes (technical description of the project)

• Chapter 6: Waste (description of the waste types in different phases of the project)

• Chapter 7:• Description of the present state of environment

• Assessment of potential impacts of the project

• Mitigation measures

• Chapter 8: Potential impact on neighboring countries

• Chapter 9: Monitoring

• Chapter 10: Risk analysis and assessment

• Chapter 11: Anticipated difficulties during EIA preparation

• Chapter 12: References

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Impacts to be assessed

• The impacts of construction • The impacts during the operation of the new plant unit

on:• Water systems• Climate and air quality • Groundwater • Soil and bedrock• Biodiversity, vegetation, animals and conservation areas• Landscape and land use• Cultural heritage• Social-economic environment• Public health• Impacts of exceptional and accident situations

• Impacts of the zero-option• In addition, impacts of decommissioning and spent

nuclear fuel generation and storage shall be described

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EIA stakeholders

EIA-PROCEDURE

Independent EIA consultant(developer of EIA documents)

Lietuvos Energija AB organizer (developer)

of the proposed economic activity

Ministry of Environment (competent authority and

coordinating international hearing)

Media

EIA parties

• Municipalities of Visaginas, Ignalina and Zarasai• Neighbours and residents of nearby areas • Other cities and municipalities • Other authorities and experts• Non-governmental and environmental organisations• Trade and professional organisations in the area affected by the project• Other countries

Potentially affected countries

10International consultation process

• Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo, 1991)

• Notified countries:- Belorus- Estonia- Finland- Latvia- Poland- Russia- Sweden

• Responses to the notification as for today: from Belorus, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Poland

• Austria reserved the right to participate in the EIA

11EIA schedule

STAGE OF WORK 2007 2008EIA procedure 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Stage 1Preparation of EIA ProgramSubmission of the preliminary EIA Program to EIA partiesDomestic and international commentingSubmission of the final EIA Program to the competent authorityApproval of EIA ProgramStage 2Preparation of EIA ReportSubmission of the preliminary EIA Report to EIA partiesDomestic and international commentingSubmission of the final EIA Report to the competent authorityDecission if the proposed economic activity may be carried outDalyvavimas ir sąveikaStakeholder groupInternational consultanciesMeetings with public

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Thank you for your attention

Lietuvos Energija ABŽvejų str. 14, LT-09310, Vilnius

LithuaniaWeb: www.le.lt