Czech nuclear waste repository: communities complain to the EU

Communities from four places in Czechia where a deep repository for nuclear waste may be built have filed a complaint with the European Commission. They argue that the Ministry of the Environment decided without sufficient grounds not to carry out a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of the updated radioactive waste management concept.

What the complaint is about

According to Edward Sequens of the Calla association, one municipality from each area is filing the complaint, backed by 25 others. The submission is made jointly by Cejle (the Hradek site), Hanovice (Brezovy Potok), Rudikov (Horka) and Temelin (Janoc).

The concept, which runs to 2035, was prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It defines the list of repository sites, the construction schedule and other plans. The government approved the last update in November 2017, and an SEA was carried out at that time. When concepts are changed, the procedure in Czechia has two stages: first the Ministry of the Environment decides whether the change could significantly affect nature, and only if the answer is yes does it conduct an assessment.

The Ministry of Industry published the draft concept in April last year. On 10 June the Ministry of the Environment concluded the procedure, finding that there would be no significant impact on nature and health, so an assessment is not required by law. According to the complaint, such an SEA conclusion at the national level cannot be appealed, unlike an EIA (environmental impact assessment), where the law allows judicial review.

Why lawyers consider the changes serious

An EU directive allows countries to skip an SEA for minor changes to concepts. But lawyers are convinced that the changes here are not minor: the update is needed because of the expected growth in radioactive waste, with four new units planned at Dukovany and Temelin and six small modular reactors. Growth in nuclear capacity from four to 11 gigawatts means more waste and the need for a larger repository or several of them.

The communities' platform already complained about the Ministry of the Environment in June. At that time its spokeswoman Veronika Krejci told the ČTK agency that the impact on nature would be dealt with in the EIA procedure, once the final site and technical parameters are known. According to her, the concept contains only general and formal changes, does not define a specific construction project and does not alter the selected areas.

“Remember what total hysteria broke out against wind turbines across the country. If they had said the repository would be everywhere, there would have been even more. But since it is four places, only those who will be affected care,” said Forman. A wind turbine will be gone in 30 or 50 years, while the repository, he said, is a “rubbish bin” for nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years, and it cannot be compared with a road or a railway.

What is known about the repository

The deep repository, where mainly thousands of tonnes of spent fuel will be placed permanently half a kilometre underground, is due to be built in Czechia by 2050, with the site to be chosen by 2030. The Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (SÚRAO) is working with four areas: Horka and Hradek in the Vysočina region, Janoc near Temelin in South Bohemia, and Brezovy Potok in the Klatovy district.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz