Commission Opinion of 2 March 2012 relating to the plan for the disposal of radioactive waste arising from the Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility and associated Spent Fuel Treatment and Conditioning Campaign at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant site, located in Lithuania
Date: 2012-03-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Lithuania, fuel reprocessing, irradiated fuel, nuclear power station, nuclear safety, radioactive pollution, radioactive waste, storage, waste disposal








C_2012066EN.01000101.xml










6.3.2012   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 66/1





COMMISSION OPINION
of 2 March 2012
relating to the plan for the disposal of radioactive waste arising from the Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility and associated Spent Fuel Treatment and Conditioning Campaign at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant site, located in Lithuania
(Only the Lithuanian text is authentic)
2012/C 66/01
The assessment below is carried out under the provisions of the Euratom Treaty, without prejudice to any additional assessments to be carried out under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the obligations stemming from it and from secondary legislation.
On 15 June 2011, the European Commission received from the Lithuanian Government, in accordance with Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty, General Data relating to the plan for the disposal of radioactive waste arising from the Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility and associated Spent Fuel Treatment and Conditioning Campaign at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant site, located in Lithuania.
On the basis of these data and additional information requested by the Commission on 30 June 2011 and provided by the Lithuanian authorities on 28 November 2011, and following consultation with the Group of Experts, the Commission has drawn up the following opinion:






1.


The distance between the site and the nearest point of another Member State, in this case Latvia, is 8 km. The next nearest Member State is Poland at some 250 km. The Republic of Belarus, as neighbouring country, is at a distance of 5 km.










2.


Under normal operating conditions, the discharges of liquid and gaseous radioactive effluents are not liable to cause an exposure of the population in another Member State or in a neighbouring country that is significant from the point of view of health.










3.


Secondary solid radioactive waste will be transferred to the appropriate waste treatment or disposal facilities present on the Ignalina site.










4.


In the event of unplanned releases of radioactive effluents, that may follow an accident of the type and magnitude considered in the General Data, the doses likely to be received by the population in another Member State or in a neighbouring country would not be significant from the point of view of health.




In conclusion, the Commission is of the opinion that the implementation of the plan for the disposal of radioactive waste in whatever form arising from the Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility and associated Spent Fuel Treatment and Conditioning Campaign, located at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant site in Lithuania, both in normal operation and in the event of an accident of the type and magnitude considered in the General Data, is not liable to result in a radioactive contamination of the water, soil or airspace of another Member State or a neighbouring country that would be significant from the point of view of health.

Done at Brussels, 2 March 2012.


For the Commission

Günther OETTINGER

Member of the Commission