Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
in the Legal and Regulatory Framework
for Nuclear Energy-related Activities
Forum on Nuclear Cooperation in Asia
7 March 2019

Mrs. Kimberly Sexton NICK
Deputy Head, Office of Legal Counsel
OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 24 10 38
Kimberly.Nick@oecd-nea.org© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Agenda• Introduction: The UN Declarations Behind EIA• Environmental Protection in Nuclear Safety
Conventions• The UNECE Regime: Espoo, Kiev and Aarhus• EIA in the European Union (briefly)• Current Issues in Environmental Law for Nuclear
Activities– Ensuring compliance with the Espoo Convention– Does the lifetime extension of a nuclear power plant
necessitate an EIA?
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Introduction:
The UN Declarations Behind EIA© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Environmental Law and Nuclear Law• 1972: Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the

Human Environment (Stockholm Declaration)[1985: European Union member states obliged to pass EIA
legislation (85/337/EEC)]• 1991: Espoo Convention• 1992: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development• 1994: Convention on Nuclear Safety• 1997: Joint Convention• 1998: Aarhus Convention

UN declaration
EU (regional) requirement
environmental convention
nuclear safety convention• 2003: Kiev Protocol© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Stockholm Declaration,
Principle 2 (1972)

Stockholm Declaration,
Principle 21 (1972)

Environmental
ImpactAssessment
Rio Declaration,
Principle 17 (1972)

Rio Declaration,
Principle 19 (1992)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Stockholm Declaration (1972)• UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm
Conference) was the UN’s 1st major conference on international
environmental issues. It had a major impact on the developmentof international environmental law and policy.

5 June 1972 - United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm,
Sweden. A general view of the opening meeting of the Conference. (Photo Credit: UN
Photo/Yutaka Nagata) http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dunche/dunche.html• Conference adopted a
Declaration with 26
environmental principles.
• UN GA “note[d] withsatisfaction” theStockholm Conference
report, including the
Declaration, by 112
votes to none, with 10
abstentions© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Stockholm Declaration (1972)
Principle 2“The natural resources of theearth, including the air, water,
land, flora and fauna andespecially representative samplesof natural ecosystems, must be
safeguarded for the benefit ofpresent and future generations
through careful planning or
management, as appropriate.”© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Stockholm Declaration (1972)
Principle 21“States have, in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations
and the principles of internationallaw, the sovereign right to exploit
their own resources pursuant totheir own environmental policies,
and the responsibility to ensurethat activities within theirjurisdiction or control do not cause
damage to the environment ofother States or of areas beyond
the limits of national jurisdiction.”© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Rio Declaration (1992)• UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio
Conference) followed the Stockholm Conference.
• 30,000 participants from 176 countries, including 103 heads ofstate or government• Conference adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment andDevelopment, whichcontains a series ofprinciples defining
the rights andresponsibilities ofstates• Rio Declaration
3 June 1992 - United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
adopted by 178 UN
A general view of the Conference on the opening day. (Photo Credit: UN Photo/Michos Tzovaras )http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dunche/dunche.html
member states© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Rio Declaration (1992)
Principle 17“Environmental impact assessment,
as a national instrument, shall be
undertaken for proposed activities
that are likely to have a significant
adverse impact on the environment
and are subject to a decision of acompetent national authority.”© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Rio Declaration (1992)
Principle 19“States shall provide prior and timely
notification and relevant information
to potentially affected States on
activities that may have a significant
adverse transboundary
environmental effect and shallconsult with those States at an earlystage and in good faith.”© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Environmental Protection in
Nuclear Safety Conventions© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Convention on Nuclear Safety (1994)
Preamble: “The Contracting Parties …
Aware of the importance to theinternational community of ensuring thatthe use of nuclear energy is safe, well
regulated and environmentally sound”
Article 1(ii): The objectives of thisConvention are: … to establish andmaintain effective defences in nuclear
installations against potential radiologicalhazards in order to protect individuals,
society and the environment from harmful
effects of ionizing radiation from such
installation© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Convention on Nuclear Safety (1994)
Article 17(iv) (Siting)
Each contracting party shall take theappropriate steps to ensure thatappropriate procedures are establishedand implemented: … for consulting
contracting parties in the vicinity of a
proposed nuclear installation, insofar as
they are likely to be affected by that
installation and, upon request providing
the necessary information to suchcontracting parties, in order to enable
them to evaluate and make their own
assessment of the likely safety impact on
their own territory of the nuclear
installation.
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Joint Convention on the Safety of
Spent Fuel Management and on the
Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (1997)
Article 1(ii) (Objectives): The objectives ofthis Convention are: … to ensure thatduring all stages of SF and RW
management there are effective defenses
against potential hazards so that
individuals, society and the environment
are protected from harmful effects ofionizing radiation, now and in the future, insuch a way that the needs and aspirationsof the present generation are met withoutcompromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs andaspirations;
Article 4(iv) General Safety Reqs
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Joint Convention on the Safety of
Spent Fuel Management and on the
Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (1997)
Article 6 and 13 (Siting of Proposed
Facilities): Each CP shall take theappropriate steps to ensure that procedures
are established and implemented for a
proposed SF and RW management facility… (ii) to evaluate the likely safety impact ofsuch a facility on individuals, society and theenvironment; (iv) to consult CPs in thevicinity of such a facility, insofar as they arelikely to be affected by that facility, andprovide them, upon their request, withgeneral data relating to the facility to enable
them to evaluate the likely safety impact of
the facility upon their territory© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Joint Convention on the Safety of
Spent Fuel Management and on the
Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (1997)
Articles 7(i) and 14(i) (Design andConstruction of Facilities)
Article 8(i) and 15(i) (Assessment of
Safety of Facilities): Each CP shall takethe appropriate steps to ensure that: …
before construction of a SF and RW
management facility, a systematic safetyassessment and an environmental
assessment appropriate to the hazard
presented by the facility and covering its
operating lifetime shall be carried out;
Article 17(iii) (Institutional Measures
After Closure)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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The United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe(UNECE) Regime© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Member States of the UNECE© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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UNECE Environmental Conventions
Covering Nuclear Activities• (Espoo Convention) Convention on Environmental
Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (1991)• (SEA Protocol or Kiev Protocol) Protocol on Strategic
Environmental Assessment to the Espoo
Convention (2003)• (Aarhus Convention) Convention on Access toInformation, Public Participation in Decision-Making
and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Convention on Environmental Impact
Assessment in a Transboundary
Context

Espoo Convention(1991)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Espoo Convention Parties and Signatories
45 Parties: European (incl. EU) and Central Asian countries, plus Canada* United States and Russia are signatories, not parties.

© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Parties to the Espoo Convention
Albania

Denmark

LatviaSerbiaArmenia*

Estonia

Liechtenstein

Slovakia*

Austria

Slovenia*

BelarusFinland*Lithuania
Frmr Yugoslav Republic
Luxembourgof Macedonia
France*Malta

Belgium*

Germany*

Moldova

Switzerland*

Bosnia and Herzegovina Greece

Montenegro

Ukraine*Bulgaria*

Hungary*

Netherlands*

United Kingdom*

Canada*Ireland

NorwayEuropean Union

Croatia

Italy

PolandCyprusKazakhstan

Portugal

Czech Republic*

Kyrgyzstan

Romania*

Azerbaijan

Spain*
Sweden** Country with at least one nuclear power plant in operation.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Espoo Convention (1991)
Why does it matter to FNCA?
1. One FNCA participating country is a party to the Espoo
Convention (Kazakhstan)
2. Soon, the Espoo Convention will be open for accession to
all UN Member States, even those that are not members of
the UNECE, upon approval by the Meeting of the Parties.
Background: This opening up of membership of the Convention was
adopted in the 1st Amendment to the Convention on 27 February
2001. The 1st Amendment entered into force on 26 August 2014, but
it is not yet effective. For it to become effective, all states andorganisations that were parties to the Espoo Convention at the timeof the 1st Amendment’s adoption (27/02/2001) must have ratified theAmendment. There are six (6) missing ratifications.
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What is the Espoo Convention?
PURPOSE• sets out the obligations of parties to assess theenvironmental impact of certain activities at an early stageof planning and• lays down general obligations of states to notify and consult
each other on all major projects under consideration that arelikely to have a significant adverse environmental impact
across boundaries.
Article 2(1): The Parties shall, either individually or jointly, take allappropriate and effective measures to prevent, reduce and control
significant adverse transboundary environmental impact from proposed
activities.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development25

Application of Espoo to Nuclear Activities
APPLICATION• Proposed activity must be listed in the Convention (see Appendix 1)
AND• Proposed activity must be likely to cause a significant adverse
transboundary impact

Proposed Activity means any activity or any major change toan activity subject to a decision of a competent authority inaccordance with an applicable national procedure* Appendix 1 lists nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except RR)
and installations solely designed for the production or enrichment of nuclear fuels,
for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels or for the storage, disposal andprocessing of radioactive waste.
* Appendix 1 under 2nd Amendment increases the scope of the list of activities© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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EIA Procedural Steps (1 of 2)
Procedurestops if affectedpart is notinterested inparticipating(1) Notification
Articles 3.1 & 3.2(2) Confirmation of Participation

PublicParticipation
Articles 2.2, 2.6,
3.8, 4.2

Article 3.3(3) Transmittal of Information
Articles 3.5 & 3.6(4) Preparation of EIA Documentation
Article 4 // Appendix II(5) Distribution of EIA Documentation
Article 4.2© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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EIA Procedural Steps (2 of 2)(6) Consultation of Authorities and Public
Participation
Article 4.2

PublicParticipation

Articles 2.2, 2.6, 3.8, 4.2(7) Consultation between Countries
Article 5(8) Examination of Information & Final
Decision
Article 6.1(9) Transmittal of Final Decision
Documentation
Article 6.2

If parties sodetermine(10) Post-project Analysis

Article 7.1 // Appendix V + Article 7.2© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Contents of an EIA
a)
b)

c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)

A description of the proposed activity and its purpose;
A description, where appropriate, of reasonable alternatives (for example,
locational or technological) to the proposed activity and also the no-action
alternative;
A description of the environment likely to be significantly affected by the
proposed activity and its alternatives;
A description of the potential environmental impact of the proposed activity andits alternatives and an estimation of its significance;
A description of mitigation measures to keep adverse environmental impact to aminimum;
An explicit indication of predictive methods and underlying assumptions as wellas the relevant environmental data used;
An identification of gaps in knowledge and uncertainties encountered incompiling the required information;
Where appropriate, an outline for monitoring and management programmes andany plans for post-project analysis; andA non-technical summary including a visual presentation as appropriate (maps,
graphs, etc.).
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Impacts Covered
Any effect caused by a proposed activity on the environment
including:human health and safety
airclimatewater

historical monuments orother physical structures
culturalheritage

fauna

flora

soil

landscapeinteraction among
these factors

socio-economic conditions resulting
from alterations to those factors© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development30

Espoo Good Practice Recommendations• Aim: to describe existing goodpractice on the application of thetransboundary EIA procedures in thefield of nuclear energy.
• Objective: facilitate the exchange of
information and assist countries in theconsistent practical application of theConvention by illustrating goodpractice and sharing experiences.
• Application: Does not create any
obligations and are without prejudice
to the obligations set out in the Espoo
Convention.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development31

Espoo Good Practice Recommendations• 7 chapters: covering all stages of the
EIA procedure, from screening to postproject analysis• For each chapter: summarised
approaches, good practice examples
and good practice recommendations• 12 examples by 9 countries: Austria,
Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Hungary,
Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden.
• 15 practical examples in the
additional informal document.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development32

Protocol on Strategic Environmental
Assessment to the Espoo Convention

Kiev Protocol(2003)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Kiev Protocol Parties and Signatories
32 Parties: European (incl. EU), Armenia and Cyprus© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Kiev Protocol (2003)
Rio Declaration
Principle 4: In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental
protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process andcannot be considered in isolation from it.

• Goal: to provide early and effective inputs to ensure thatenvironmental considerations are thoroughly taken into account in
the development of plans and programmes• Parties must integrate EAs into their development of plans andprogrammes at the earliest stages, regardless of whether theseplans or programmes are likely to have an impact on the territory of
another state.
• Screening: applies to plans and programmes (and any
modifications thereto), and possibly policies and legislation, thatare likely to have significant environmental, including health,effects© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Application of Kiev to Nuclear Activities
A strategic environmental assessment shall be carried out for plans andprogrammes which are prepared for … energy … and which set theframework for future development consent for projects listed in Annex I andany other project listed in Annex II that requires an environmental impact
assessment under national legislation.
* Annex I lists nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except RR) andinstallations solely designed for the production or enrichment of nuclear fuels, for the
reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels or for the storage, disposal and processing ofradioactive waste.
* Annex II lists additional activities within the scope if an EIA is required undernational law, such as nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors including thedismantling or decommissioning of such power stations or reactors (except research
installations …), and other installations, as far as not included in annex I, designed
for processing, disposing and storage of irradiated nuclear fuel, production orenrichment of nuclear fuel, and processing, storage and final disposal of radioactive
waste.
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Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)• Environmental Report: shall identify, describe and evaluate the likely
significant environmental, including health, effects* of implementing theplan or programme and its reasonable alternatives.
• Public Participation: process should serve the purposes of providing
information, gathering comments and engaging the public concerned incollaborative problem solving.
• Transboundary Consultations: notification required when a proposedplan or programme in one country (the party of origin) is likely to havesignificant environmental effects on the territory of another country (theaffected party). Must include the draft plan or programme, the ER,
including info. on transboundary effects, and info. on the decision-making
procedure, including information on a time schedule for comments.
* Environmental, including health, effect: any effect on the environment, including human health, flora,
fauna, biodiversity, soil, climate, air, water, landscape, natural sites, material assets, cultural heritage and theinteraction among these factors.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Convention on Access to Information,
Public Participation in Decision-Making
and Access to Justice in Environmental
Matters

Aarhus Convention(1998)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Aarhus Convention Parties
47 Parties: includes a majority of European (incl. EU) and Central Asian
countries© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Aarhus Convention (1998)
Objective
Contribute to the protection of the right of every person ofpresent and future generations to live in an environment
adequate to his or her health and well-being, each Party shallguarantee the rights of:• Pillar 1: Access to Information• Pillar 2: Public Participation in Decision-making• Pillar 3: Access to Justice in Environmental Matters© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Aarhus Convention: 3 Pillars
Pillar 1: Access to Environmental Information
Purpose: ensures that members of the public are able to know andunderstand what is happening in the environment around them. It also
ensures that the public is able to participate in an informed manner.
Article 4: Requires a system that enables the public to request and receive
environmental information from public authorities• Public authorities to make information available upon request• Time limits for public authorities to respond and supply the requested
information (ASAP or 1-2 months)• Acceptable limitations on disclosure (international relations, national
defence, IP, personal data, third party interests, etc.)
Article 5: Requires a system through which public authorities collectenvironmental info. and actively disseminate it to the public without request© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Aarhus Convention: 3 Pillars
Pillar 2: Public Participation in Decision-Making
Why: people have the right to take part in basic decisions affecting theirlives. The quality of these decisions can be improved through the active
involvement of the public concerned.
Convention establishes firm obligations that parties must meet in providing
for timely, adequate and effective public participation. Among these are
requirements concerning notification, timing, information, commenting,taking into account and communication.

Pillar 3: Access to Justice
Access to justice under the Convention means access for the public toprocedures where legal review of alleged violations of the Convention andnational laws relating to the environment can be requested.
Why: to ensure that members of the public can have the rights enshrined in
the Convention, as well as national laws relating to the environment,
enforced by law.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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EIA in the European Union(briefly)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

EU EIA Directive (1985 // 2014)•

The EU EIA Directive (85/337/EEC) has been
in force since 1985 and applies to a wide
range of defined public and private projects,
which are defined in Annexes I and II.
– Annex I is in line with the 2nd Amendment
to the Espoo Convention•

The 1985 Directive has been amended
multiple times. The current version is:“Directive 2014/52/EU Of The European
Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014
amending Directive 2011/92/EU on theassessment of the effects of certain public andprivate projects on the environment”.

•

The EIA Directive is in line with both the Espoo
Convention and the Aarhus Convention.

© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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EU EIA Directive (1985 // 2014)• The EIA procedure in the EU provides
that:– the developer may request the competentauthority to say what should be covered by
the EIA information to be provided by thedeveloper (scoping stage);– the developer must provide information on
the environmental impact (EIA report –Annex IV);
– the environmental authorities and the
public (and affected Member States) must
be informed and consulted;– the competent authority decides, taken
into consideration the results ofconsultations.

• The public is informed of the decision
afterwards and can challenge thedecision before the courts.
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Example: EIA in FinlandFennovoima Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Report (2014) assessing the environmental impacts of a
1200MW NPP at the Pyhäjoki site in Finland (288 Pages)• Chapter 1: Description of the project• Chapter 2: Description of the procedure
followed, communications and participation• Chapter 3: Technical project description• Chapter 4: Nuclear safety• Chapter 5: Licenses, permits, plans, notifications
and decisions required for the project• Chapter 6: Project’s relationship with plans andprogrammes concerning environmental
protection and the use of natural resources© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Example: EIA in Finland• Chapter 7: Assessment methods, present state of theenvironment and the assessed environmental impacts– Land use and impacts of construction and operation– Emissions into the air– Water systems and fishing– Soil, bedrock and groundwater– Flora, fauna and conservation areas– Landscape and cultural environment– Traffic and traffic safety– Noise– People and society– Waste and waste management– Transboundary environmental impacts– Zero option© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Example: EIA in Finland• Chapter 8: Comparison between alternatives andassessment of the significance of the impacts• Chapter 9: Prevention and mitigation of adverse impacts• Chapter 10: Environmental impact monitoring programme• Literature review• Coordinating authority’s statement on the EIA programme• International hearing: Responses to the questions andstatements of some foreign countries on the EIA programme
https://issuu.com/fennovoima/docs/environmental_impact_assessment_rep_864bab858ddafd© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Current Issues inEnvironmental Law for
Nuclear Activities© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Current Issues in Environmental Law
for Nuclear Activities
1
Ensuring Compliance with the Espoo
Convention© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Espoo Convention Compliance Options
Inquiry Commission (Article 3(7))“When a Party considers that it would be affected by a significant adverse
transboundary impact of a proposed activity listed in Appendix I, andwhen no notification has taken place … [and] if [the] Parties cannot agree
whether there is likely to be a significant adverse transboundary impact,
any such Party may submit that question to an inquiry commission inaccordance with the provisions of Appendix IV to advise on the likelihoodof significant adverse transboundary impact, unless they agree onanother method of settling this question.”

Implementation Committee• Established by the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) in 2001. Consists of
8 Contracting Parties who each appoint a member of the Committee• Considers submissions of non-compliance• Prepares reports on compliance• Seeks information on compliance© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development51

Espoo Implementation Committee“Non-adversarial and assistance-oriented” procedure
Reviews parties’ compliance on the basis of:• Submissions: party-to-party submission or self-referrals• Committee Initiatives, launched in two ways:– Information obtained from other sources (most often fromNGOs);– Specific compliance issues arising from the periodic reviews of
the implementation of the Espoo Convention.
Each of these is then followed by correspondence with the Party
Concerned and other stakeholders to define whether the Implementation
Committee should further examine the matter.
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Espoo Implementation Committee• Closed sessions• “Hearings” with Parties whose compliance is at issue• Draft findings and recommendations (F&R) shared with theParties concerned• F&R are adopted, taking into account comments received• F&R are forwarded to the MOP to the Convention for
adoption© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Espoo Implementation Committee
5 Submissions by Parties – 2 re: nuclear activities (closed)• S/3 Metsamor, Armenia (2011-2012) [new nuclear plant]• S/4 Ostrovets, Belarus (2011-2013) [new nuclear plant]

6 Committee Initiatives – 2 re: nuclear activities• CI/4 Rivne, Ukraine (2011-2014) [LTO]• CI/5 Hinkley Point C, United Kingdom (2013-2016) [new nuclear plant]* Decision on CI/5 and follow-up decisions to S/3, S/4 and CI/4 wererecently made at the 5-7 February 2019 Intermediary Session of the
MoP to the Espoo Convention and the Protocol on SEA.

29 Information Gathering Cases – 8 re: nuclear activities© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Current Issues in Environmental Law
for Nuclear Activities
2
Does the lifetime extension of a nuclear
power plant necessitate an EIA?

© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Espoo and Lifetime Extensions
Article 1(v) “Proposed activity” means any activity or any
major change to an activity subject to a decision of acompetent authority in accordance with an applicablenational procedure;• The renewal of an NPP licence is generally subject to EIA,
though the location, technology and operating procedures
may remain unchanged.
• However, in many UNECE countries, NPPs are licensed
without any lifetime limitation. Questions remain as towhether an extension of the designed operation period of
an NPP is subject to the Convention if no licence renewal
process is needed.
© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development56

Espoo and Lifetime Extensions
CI/4 Rivne, Ukraine (2011-2014): concerning the planned extensionof the Rivne NPP, the Committee found that Ukraine, whose
legislation did not require the carrying out of either a domestic or atransboundary EIA procedure for the extension of the operator’s
licence through its renewal, was in non-compliance with theConvention.
“the decision to authorize a proposed activity subject to the Convention,according to the national procedure, only for a limited period of time meantthat any subsequent decision to extend that limited period of time, whether
in the form of a new licence or amendment or renewal of the existing one,would, under the Convention, be another decision of a competent authority
to authorize or undertake a proposed activity. In that context it becomesless relevant whether it is a new activity or a major change to an activity.”© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Espoo and Lifetime Extensions
Pending information gathering cases on LTO:
• Netherlands, Borssele NPP (IC/INFO/15) (2014-)• Belgium, Doel 1 & 2, Tihange 1 (IC/INFO/18) (2016-)• Czech Republic, Dukovany NPP (IC/INFO/19) (2016-)• Ukraine, Rivne, South-Ukraine, Zaporizhzhya and Khmelnitsky
NPPs (IC/INFO/20) (2016-)• Spain, Santa Maria de Garona NPP (IC/INFO/26) (2017-)• Romania, Kozloduy 5 & 6 (IC/INFO/28) (2013-)© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Espoo and Lifetime Extensions
Ad hoc group on the applicability of the Espoo
Convention to the lifetime extension of NPPs
• Established in 2017 to draft terms of reference for possible guidance on
addressing the applicability of the Espoo Convention with regard todecisions on the lifetime extension of NPPs
– ToR adopted in 2018: ECE/MP.EIA/WG.2/2018/2, annex IV• Lead countries: Germany and the United Kingdom, with the EC assecretariat.
• Matters being discussed:– Lifetime extension: A change to an activity or a new activity?
– When is a lifetime extension a major change?
– Possible lifetime extension scenarios• Anticipated submission of draft guidance to the MOP: 09/2020© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Environmental Assessments for Nuclear
Activities in PracticeIn Summary
Policy: the decision to assess the environmental effects ofproposed actions prior to making decisions is a policy• Ex: Espoo Convention; National Environmental Policy Act

Process: the policy is implemented through a process that
often includes screening, notifications, public participation,
environmental assessments, consultations, etc.
Procedure: within the high-level process, there are often
detailed procedural steps that must be undertaken andanalyses to per performed in order to achieve the policy
objectives and implement the process.
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Resources• Espoo Convention & Kiev Protocol website:www.unece.org/env/eia/welcome.html• Espoo Good Practice Recommendations:www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2017/EIA/MOP7/28_04_
2017_ece_mp.eia_2017_10_e.pdf• Aarhus Convention website: www.unece.org/env/pp/welcome.html• Aarhus Convention Implementation Guide:
www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/Publications/Aarhus_Implementat
ion_Guide_interactive_eng.pdf• “Nuclear law and environmental law in the licensing of nuclear
installations” by Christian Raetzke: www.oecdnea.org/law/nlb/nlb92.pdf#page=57© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Resources

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1UT_r2OiEI© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Thank you!

© 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development