1. Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that procedures are established and implemented for a proposed radioactive waste management facility:
(v) to evaluate all relevant site-related factors likely to affect the safety of such a facility during its operating lifetime;
(vi) to evaluate the likely safety impact of such a facility on individuals, society and the environment;
(vii) to make information on the safety of such a facility available to members of the public;
(viii) to consult Contracting Parties in the vicinity of such a facility, insofar as they are likely to be affected by that facility, and provide them, upon their request, with general data relating to the facility to enable them to evaluate the likely safety impact of the facility upon their territory.
2. In so doing, each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that such facilities shall not have unacceptable effects on other Contracting Parties by being sited in accordance with the general safety requirements of Article 11.
The legislative and regulatory system in Sweden does not distinguish between the siting procedure for a facility for the management of radioactive waste and the siting procedure for a facility for the manage- ment of spent nuclear fuel, with regard to the objectives of the Joint Convention. Thus, the information presented in this section is valid for all nuclear facilities, including the siting of the proposed facility for management of spent nuclear fuel. In order not to duplicate information in this report, information re- garding the procedures for the siting of a nuclear facility in this section is not repeated in section G.3.
H.3.1 Regulatory requirements
H.3.1.1 Assessment of safety and environmental impact
According to the Act on Nuclear Activities a licence is required to construct, possess and operate any nuclear facility. A licence application must contain an EIA. The procedures for carrying out the EIA, as well as its contents, are specified in the Environmental Code (see section E.2.1.3). The licensing proce- dure is described in section E.2.2.1.
The EIA must contain the following elements:
A description of the activity or measure with details of its location, design and scope. •
A description of the measures being planned with a view to avoiding, mitigating or remedying •
adverse effects.
The information needed to establish and assess the main impacts on human health, the environment •
and management of land, water and other resources that the activity or measure is likely to have. A description of possible alternative sites and alternative designs, together with a statement of the •
reasons why a specific alternative was chosen and a description of the consequences if the activity or measure is not implemented.
A non-technical summary of the information. •
In addition to the EIA the preliminary safety report for a proposed spent fuel management facility is of key importance for licence application. Requirements on the content of the safety report are given in the general regulations concerning safety in certain nuclear facilities (SKIFS 2004:1), and include for example:
A description of how the site and its surroundings, from the standpoint of safety, can affect the facility. •
A description of the design basis, including the requirements that have determined the design and •
construction of the facility. Descriptions of facilities for the handling of spent fuel or nuclear waste shall contain requirements that are determined by the description of safety in the particular reposi- tory after closure.
A description of measures taken to ensure adequate protection of workers, the public and the envi- •
ronment from radiation, as required by the Radiation Protection Act and regulations promulgated according to that act.
As described in section E.2.1.1 the operators of nuclear power plants must jointly perform a comprehen- sive R&D-programme for the safe management of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. The purpose of this programme is to demonstrate that timely actions are taken to evaluate the safety and impacts of proposed facilities and that all relevant site-related factors are studied. The programme must be submit- ted every third year for regulatory review.
H.3.1.2 Public information and involvement
There are several procedures that serve the purpose to involve the public in the siting of new spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste facilities. As mentioned above, an EIA must be performed for any new nuclear facility. Swedish legislation emphasises the role of the public and other stakeholders in the EIA. The developer must initiate early (long before a licence application is submitted) consultations with those parties that might be affected by a new facility.
Parties that must be consulted include: municipalities that may host the facility; •
regulatory authorities, primarily SKI, SSI and County Administrative Boards; •
national environmental organisations; •
local interest groups; and •
affected individuals, e.g. those living close to a proposed location. •
The County Administration Boards have an important function besides participating in the consulta- tions. They are requested to assist the developer in identifying stakeholders and to facilitate consulta- tions and an exchange of information.
Furthermore, the circulation of the nuclear power plants’ joint R&D programme for comments provides a broad range of concerned parties with information regarding new facilities as well as a pos- sibility to state opinions.
According to the Act (1992:1537) and Ordinance (1981:671) on the Financing of Future Expenses for Spent Nuclear Fuel etc., the municipalities that might host a spent nuclear fuel or nuclear waste facility, including a repository, are reimbursed for their own information to the public. Municipalities have been reimbursed for their information activities since the mid-1990s. Currently the municipalities of Östhammar and Oskarshamn are receiving reimbursement. In 2004 the Parliament approved a new regulation in the Financing Act, which made it possible for non-profit-making organisations to apply for financing, for the period of 1 January 2005-31 December 2008.
The decisions concerning reimbursement to municipalities and non-profit organisations have been made by SKI24 (see also E.2.1.4).
H.3.1.3 Consulting contracting parties
The Environmental Code specifies that if another country is likely to be affected, the responsible aut- hority as designated by the Government shall inform the competent authority in that country about the planned activity. The country concerned, and the citizens, who may be affected, should be given the opportunity to take part in the consultation procedure. The Government has designated the Swedish Envi- ronmental Protection Agency to be responsible for this task. Such information shall also be supplied when another country, which is likely to be exposed to a significant environmental impact, so requests.
H.3.2 measures taken by the license holders
H.3.2.1 General
All planned spent fuel and nuclear waste facilities, including repositories, will be sited, constructed and operated by SKB. The supporting R&D-programme is also run by SKB. The following activities are currently carried out by SKB:
The R&D-programme has been reported every third year since 1986. The most recent R&D report •
was submitted in 2007.
Consultations and an EIA for the planned encapsulation facility and the repository for spent nuclear •
fuel began formally in 2002, but in practice started in the mid-1990’s.
24) As from July 1, 2008, decisions on reimbursements to concerning reimbursement to municipalities and non-profit organisations
H.3.2.2 Consultations and environmental impact statement
Early consultations have been carried out for both the encapsulation plant and the repository for spent nuclear fuel, in both Oskarshamn and Forsmark.
Extended consultations began during 2003 with the county administrative board, other government agencies, the municipalities, the citizens and the organizations that are likely to be affected. Consulta- tions are coordinated for the encapsulation plant and repository for spent nuclear fuel. The consultations relates to location, scope, design and environmental impact of the activity or measure and the content and structure of the environmental impact statement.
The extended consultations have initially mainly dealt with the scope of EIA. Preliminary scoping reports have been prepared as a basis for discussion. Viewpoints and proposals that emerge during the consultations are taken into account in the planning of the continued EIA process.
In the subsequent investigation phase, results from investigations and studies as well as proposals for facility design is presented at the consultation meetings, and the participants are given an opportu- nity to state their views. This phase will continue for as long as investigations, facility design work and studies are pursued.
When the necessary investigations have been completed, a preliminary EIS will be compiled. Before the application is submitted, SKB intends to verify major conclusions with the concerned consultation parties. A summary report from the consultations will be submitted together with license applications to site and construct the encapsulation plant and the repository for spent nuclear fuel, respectively.
In addition to the formal consultations, extensive information activities are aimed at municipalities, organizations and the public. These activities will continue to be pursued in parallel with the statutory consultation meetings.
The last facility that will be built in the LILW programme is the final repository for long-lived low and intermediate level waste, SFL. A decision on the siting of this facility will be made in a couple of decades at the earliest.
H.3.3 Regulatory control
SKI reviews SKB’s R&D programme and circulates it for comments to SSI and a number of concerned organisations (e.g. universities, government agencies, NGOs and municipalities that might host a spent nuclear fuel facility). When the review is completed the R&D programme together with SKI’s recom- mendations are sent to the Government for its decision.
SKI and SSI have regular consultations with SKB regarding progress in the siting of the planned facilities.
SKI and SSI are consulted regarding the EIA. The concerned County Administrative Boards are also consulted regarding the EIA and thus exercise some regulatory control, however not in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection.