EIA – the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a statutory procedure performed in order to define the environmental impacts of a project. Another purpose of the assessment is to promote the communication to and involvement of citizens, even in the early stages of a project.

No project-related decisions are involved in the EIA as it is performed before any decisions on the licences and permits have been made. The environmental impact assessment report is mandatory when applying for a decision-in-principle concerning, for instance, a new nuclear power plant, a repository for spent nuclear fuel, or an extension to it. More on EIA. and the stages of the EIA procedure.

Posiva Performed an Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure in the Late 1990s

During the period 1997 to 1999, Posiva performed an EIA procedure for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Back then, the procedure covered a total of 9,000 uranium tons of spent nuclear fuel, which equals the total amount of spent fuel from six nuclear power plants. More on EIA in the 1990s

Updated Environmental Impact Assessment Report

In early 2008, Posiva carried out a revised assessment of the environmental impacts of the final disposal, or, in other words, updated the 1990s EIA report. Although the earlier EIA also covered the waste from the sixth nuclear power plant, the coordinating authority required the contents of the report to be brought up to date. The updated report was enclosed with an application for the decision-in-principle concerning the final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel from the Olkiluoto 4 plant unit.

The EIA Procedure for the Repository Extension

In 2008-2009, Posiva also carried out a new EIA procedure for a potential extension of the repository with a capacity of 3,000 tons of uranium. This new environmental impact assessment report was enclosed with an application for the decision-in-principle concerning the final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel from Fortum's Loviisa 3 plant unit. More on the EIA procedure for the repository extension.