Czech utility CEZ has submitted its environmental impact assessment on a new nuclear power plant in Temelín to Czech authorities.
Preparation of the EIA documentation consisting over 2500 pages and weighing 25kg took 15 months. Two hundred experts from prestigious institutes, including the Czech Nuclear Research Institute in Řež, the Energoproject Division, and the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute were involved in the preparation of the document.
The document assesses the impact of the completion of a new nuclear power plant at Temelin, including the effects of a plant on public health, fauna and flora, ecosystems, water, air, climate and landscape.
The EIA documentation was put together by SCES Group, considering information from CEZ, working papers and the knowledge and experience of its own employees. “At the same time we used background documents from the Monitoring and Evaluation of Temelin NPP Environmental Impacts Program…[which] has been in progress since 2000,” says Jan Horák from SCES Group.
The EIA process in the Czech Republic is controlled by the Ministry of Environment. It will gather background information and assess the effects of a new unit at Temelin before permission can be given for the plant to be built. In total the permitting process for a new Czech nuclear power plant is estimated to take a minimum of five years. The EIA process will make up almost a half of that period.
The EIA documents will now be sent to the regional authorities (South Bohemian Region and relevant municipalities).
In parallel to the EIA process a tender for the completion of Temelin is underway. Three bidders – Areva NP, Westinghouse Electric Company & ŠKODA and Atomstroyexport & Gidropress – have qualified for the process. The winner should be announced in the spring of 2012.
