Environmental Impact Assessment Report
On 29 March 2022, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe filed an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA Report) with the General Directorate for Environmental Protection. The EIA Report concerns the Project which consists in the construction and operation of the first Nuclear Power Plant in Poland with an electrical capacity of up to 3,750 MWe. This made it possible to reopen the environmental decision procedure at a later stage.
The EIA Report prepared by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe is the first such study in Poland for a nuclear power plant. That is why, during the entire process of developing the document, the company was supported by a dedicated team of the Technical Advisor (Jacobs Clean Energy Limited), composed of experienced specialists who had participated in the work on similar documentation for other nuclear power plants worldwide. Apart from the Technical Advisor, the entities involved in the EIA Report development included a number of Polish scientific bodies, and a variety of specialists experienced in preparing EIA Reports for major infrastructure projects.
The results of the Environmental Impact Assessment presented in the Report are the outcome of a survey program conducted on a scale unprecedented in Poland, designed in accordance with the Decision on the scope of the Report, with respect to the considered Project site variants and their sub-variants, as well as the associated infrastructure and other projects carried out by the third parties.
The EIA Report, prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Act of 3 October 2008 on the provision of information on the environment and its protection, public participation in environmental protection and environmental impact assessments, is key evidence in the administrative procedure for the Project environmental impact assessment, which is part of the procedure for issuing a decision on environmental conditions. The EIA Report is one of the most important elements of the procedure, which is to facilitate identification of all potential risks associated with implementation of the Project.
Public Notice of the General Director of Environmental Protection
Public Notice of the General Director of Environmental Protection of 6 June 2022 regarding the issue of a decision of the General Director of Environmental Protection of 6 June 2022 resuming the proceedings to issue the decision on environmental conditions for a project comprising: Construction and operation of the first Polish Nuclear Power Plant of up to 3750 MWe capacity, located in the communes of: Choczewo or Gniewino and Krokowa: https://www.gov.pl/web/gdos/zawiadomienie-generalnego-dyrektora-ochrony-srodowiska-z-6-czerwca-2022-r-znak-doos-oa42051201532
General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) applied for opinion to authorities
On 25 July 2022, the General Director for Environmental Protection issued letters to the Director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia, the Pomeranian National Sanitary Inspector for the Pomorskie Voivodeship, and the Director of the Regional Board of Water Management in Gdańsk of the State Water Holding ‘Polish Waters’ (Wody Polskie), requesting opinion before issuing a decision, according to Article 74(3) of the Act of 3 October 2008 on the provision of information on the environment and its protection, public participation in environmental protection and environmental impact assessments: Public Notice of the General Director for Environmental Protection of 26 July 2022.
Transboundary procedure
On September 16, 2022, the General Director for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ), as part of the transboundary consultations, submitted documentation related to conducting the transboundary environmental impact assessment to the states participating in this international assessment. The documentation provided for analysis included a 1,200-page transboundary report (prepared in Polish, English, German, and Lithuanian), which enabled other countries to assess potential transboundary environmental impacts, a summary of the environmental report’s findings translated into the native languages of the potentially affected parties, and the full environmental report prepared in Polish. The transboundary consultations lasted from September 2022, i.e., from the submission of the transboundary documentation to the interested states, until July 2023. Under this procedure, agreement protocols were signed with all involved states, including 4 following intergovernmental expert meetings conducted under Article 5 of the Espoo Convention, which helped conclude the process within the planned timeframe.
Information about the investment on the GDOŚ website
The GDOŚ website features a tab with the most important information about the procedure. More information here.
Decision on Environmental Conditions Obtained
On September 19, 2023, the General Director for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) issued the decision on environmental conditions (Environmental Decision) for the planned nuclear power plant in Pomerania, at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site, within the Choczewo municipality. The issued decision is a key permit for the entire investment process, as subsequent administrative approvals, including the decision on location determination (Location Decision) and the construction permit, must comply with the findings and conditions contained in the Environmental Decision. It determines the location variant for Poland’s first nuclear power plant – the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site – and specifies, among other things: the conditions for using the environment during the facility’s construction and operation phases, environmental protection requirements that must be included in the project design documentation, requirements regarding the prevention of industrial accident impacts, and it also imposes an obligation to conduct a reassessment of the project’s environmental impact as part of the procedure for issuing the construction permit.
