10 Nov (NucNet): Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Baltic nuclear power station under construction in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad complies with international standards, Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom said.
In a statement on its website Rosatom said the IAEA’s study and analysis of the EIA had taken more than one year. The IAEA expert group assessed radiation protection and monitoring, radioactive waste and the transport of spent nuclear fuel as they relate to IAEA safety standards and the United Nations Espoo convention (the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context).
The Espoo Convention stipulates that the possible transboundary impact of a nuclear station must be examined. The EIA looked at states near the construction site, specifically Lithuania, Poland and Belarus.
The expert group’s final report will be submitted to the IAEA in January 2015, Rosatom said.
In September 2012, Rosatom director-general Sergei Kiriyenko sent an open letter to the government of Lithuania calling for official consultations on the project to build two VVER-1200 nuclear reactor units.
Mr Kiriyenko said in the letter that he was reconfirming his readiness for an “open and direct dialogue” on the project.
The open letter was motivated by Lithuanian officials’ statements concerning alleged non-transparency surrounding the project, he said.
The Baltic nuclear plant project is in the Neman district of the Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania. The first of the two units is scheduled to go online in 2016 and the second in 2018.
In February 2012, first concrete was poured for the foundation of the plant, marking the official start of construction of the first reactor.
