Public hearings on the Fennovoima’s EIA programme at the end of September
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will hold public hearings in Eurajoki and Pyhäjoki concerning the environmental impact assessment programme for the final disposal of Fennovoima's spent nuclear fuel. The hearing in Eurajoki will take place on 21 September and in Pyhäjoki on 22 September.
Fennovoima submitted the EIA programme concerning the final disposal of Fennovoima's own spent nuclear fuel to the coordinating authority, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, on 22 June 2016. This launched the procedure specified in the Act on the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure. The assessment procedure includes hearings on the assessment programme, during which the ministry requests statements and provides opportunities for opinions to be expressed. Public hearings are one way to collect such opinions.
The public hearing at the Eurajoki Municipal Hall will take place on Wednesday 21 September at 18.00 and at the Pyhäjoki Community Centre on Thursday 22 September at 18.00. Invitations to these events will be published from 12 September onwards in the main newspapers in the area, on municipal notice boards, and on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment website at www.tem.fi/en
After the hearings concerning the EIA programme (12 September– 9 November) the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment as the coordinating authority gives its own statement, which closes this phase of the EIA programme. As estimated by the ministry, this statement should come out towards the end of 2016. The project is also subject to the transboundary environmental impact assessment specified in the Espoo Convention. The organisation of the international hearings is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment.
The project is concerned with the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel produced in the use of Fennovoima Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant. Fennovoima has proposed Eurajoki and Pyhäjoki as the alternative locations for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. In order for the project on the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel to be implemented, a Government decision-in-principle on the matter, a construction licence and an operating licence are required. In the current plans the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel is envisaged to start at the earliest in the 2090s.
Further information: http://tem.fi/en/eia-programme-2016
Inquiries:
Herkko Plit, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 462 0788
Linda Kumpula, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 412 4425