Experiences of Dealing With Environmental Statements for Nuclear Reactor Decommissioning Projects Under the EIA Directive

Abstract

European Council Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC, sets out a framework for the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. It is known as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. The Directive is implemented in Great Britain (GB) for the dismantling or decommissioning of nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactor by the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 (EIADR99). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the competent authority for EIADR99 in GB, and has carried out public consultations on environmental statements that accompanied applications for consent to carry out decommissioning projects at two nuclear power stations in GB. HSE understands that these applications for consent are some of the first under the revised EIA Directive. HSE has developed a strategy for managing applications for consents under EIADR99. This strategy covers two main areas. The first area is public involvement, including identifying a large number of organisations in addition to the consultation bodies identified in the Regulations, providing information through the internet, and making responses to the consultation process publicly available. The second area is interfaces with legislation and Government policy, including town and country planning legislation, related health, safety and environment legislation, and decommissioning timetables. Experiences of implementing the strategy to deal with the environmental statements are described.