ACCESO A TECNOLOGÍA DE INFORMACIÓN Y COMUNICACIÓN

concerning environmental

protection and the use of

natural resources

109 6 The project’s relationship with plans and programs concerning environmental protection and the use of natural resources

The project’s relationship to plans, programs and agreements

 Name Content Relationship with the project Reference

United Nations Framework Con-vention on Climate Change, UNFCCC

In the Framework Convention on Climate Change organized in Kyoto in December 1997, the approved EU objective was to reduce the total volume of greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent from the 1990 level.

Negotiations over setting a new objective are in progress.

Nuclear energy production does not directly create greenhouse gas emissions.

Nuclear power can replace fossil energy production forms based on combustion processes and reduce the average carbon dioxide emissions of electricity production.

The Kyoto Protocol

The objective of the EU energy policy is to secure competitive availability of clean energy as a response to climate change, increasing global energy demand and future insecurities in energy supply.

In order to achieve the objectives of the energy policy, a ten-point action plan has been defined. The action plan includes the development of the EU’s internal energy market, the security of energy supply, commit-ment to the reduction of greenhouse gases and the future of nuclear power.

The future of nuclear power is one of the ten points of the energy strat-egy’s action plan. According to the action plan, the Commission regards nuclear energy as a noteworthy energy source that would allow the achievement of strict emission targets. According to the Comission, EU should maintain and delevop its technological leading position in nuclear energy. The Commission also proposes that the authorities of the Member States increase the efficiency of nuclear power-related license procedures and remove unnecessary restrictions.

The Energy Policy for Europe was published on January 10, 2007.

EU climate and energy package

The European Commission’s climate and energy package is an extensive legislation proposal concerning the Member States. The EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gases by 20% by 2020 from the emission level in 1990 and increasing the share of renewable energy in the total energy use within the EU to one-fifth.

The emission reduction objective will increase to 30% if the new global emission reduction agreement can be achieved. In addition to renewable energy, measures towards this objective include improved energy efficiency and investments in clean forms of energy such as the recovery and storage of carbon dioxide.

If nuclear power is used to replace the capacity of power plants that use non-renewable energy sources (such as coal-fired power plants), the average carbon dioxide emissions in electricity production can be reduced.

The EU published the renewable energy and climate change package on January 23, 2008.

The plans and programs with the most significance for the project (Table 6-1) include national target programs and international commitments. These do not generally obligate operators directly, but their objectives can be

introduced at the operator level for example through envi-ronmental permits.

The following table explains the relationship of the pro-ject to existing environmental plans and programs.

Table 6-1. The project’s relationship to plans and programs concerning environmental conservation and the use of natural resources.

110 6 The project’s relationship with plans and programs concerning environmental protection and the use of natural resources

 Name Content Relationship with the project Reference

The Finnish National Climate and Energy Strategy

The Finnish energy policy framework is defined in the National Climate and Energy Strategy, approved by the Government in March 2013, and the programs that complement the previous strategy approved in 2008.

Key objectives of the strategy update include ensuring that the national targets for 2020 are achieved and to make preparations for meeting the long-term energy and climate objectives set by the EU.

Parliament’s opinion on the 2008 strategy, according to which cost-effi-ciency, greater energy self-sufficiency and ensuring a sufficient and mod-erately priced electric power supply must be emphasized in the fulfillment of energy and climate commitments, has been taken into account in the strategy update.

The construction of the new nuclear power plant unit is in line with the climate and energy strategy.

The National Climate and Energy Strategy aims to maintain a diverse domestic energy production capacity of maximum self-sufficiency; the construction of a new nuclear power plant supports this objective.

A report of measures to be carried out in the energy and climate policy in the near future, approved by the Government on November 6, 2008.

Government’s report to the Parliament on March 20, 2013.

Government foresight report on climate and energy policy

On October 15, 2009, the Govern-ment approved a foresight report on climate and energy policy to define a Finnish climate and energy policy over the long term. The report sets the objective of reducing Finland’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% from the 1990 level by 2050 as part of an international effort. The Government’s climate and energy strategy aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 38% by 2020 and further to 60% by 2050.

The use of nuclear power for energy production supports Finland’s long-term climate and energy policy objectives of limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The Government approved the national Air Pollution Control Program in 2002. The program defined meas-ures that allowed Finland to gradually reduce emissions and, in 2010, to achieve the level set out in the EU National Emission Ceilings Directive that came into force in 2001.

The Air Pollution Control Program 2010 defines the maximum annual emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia starting from 2010.

The program includes the measures to reduce the emissions of energy production, traffic, agriculture and industry.

Nuclear power production does not create emissions that are limited by the National Emission Ceilings Directive.

The replacement of combus-tion-based energy production with nuclear power supports the achievement of the objectives set in the directive for Finland.

111 6 The project’s relationship with plans and programs concerning environmental protection and the use of natural resources

 Name Content Relationship with the project Reference

Convention

The UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution was adopted in 1979 to control the migration of air pollution between countries. The convention does not set out actual emission reduction obli-gations, but creates the framework for cooperation and detailed protocols to be separately approved. These protocols define acceptable levels for emissions of substances such as sulfur, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOC).

In 1999, the European parties to the CLRTAP agreed on the national limits for sulfur, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia in the Gothenburg Protocol.

The protocol binds Finland as a state;

it does not bind individual operators.

The commitments are to be fulfilled using control methods aimed at operators as deemed appropriate by the state.

Nuclear power production does not directly create emissions that are limited in the record. Nuclear power can replace combustion-based energy production forms and thus reduce the total emissions in Finland. has been enforced by Presidential Decree 273/2005.

Guidelines for water protection until 2015

The guidelines for water protection define the national needs and objec-tives for water protection until 2015.

The decision presents measures to be taken for reaching a good status in water systems and preventing any deterioration. The guidelines for water protection also support the preparation and execution of the EU sea protection strategy and the action plan between the Baltic countries for protecting the Baltic Sea. The central objectives of the plan include the reduction of eutrophication and heavy loads caused by detrimental sub-stances, the protection of groundwa-ter and wagroundwa-ter habitat, the reduction of damage caused by hydraulic construction and the regulation and repair of water systems.

The emission limits defined in the environmental permit will be followed in the purification of the nuclear power plant’s wastewater. The heat load transferred to the water system along with the cooling water con-stitutes the most significant impact of the nuclear power plant on the water system. Cooling waters do not contain any nutrients or detrimental substances. The heating effect from the cooling water adds the primary production of the sea area.

Government’s

The Government issued a decision on the first part of the marine resources management plan in 2012.

The first stage of the plan involves assessing the current condition of the sea, laying down goals for achieving good sea condition and defining indicators for monitoring the condition. The marine management plan covers Finnish territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone.

This EIA report includes an assessment of impacts on the sea area. According to the assessment, the discharge of cooling water into the sea leads to local deterioration of the condition of the sea through eutrophication. The monitoring carried out within the project also serves the needs of marine management.

Government’s decision issued in 2012

112 6 The project’s relationship with plans and programs concerning environmental protection and the use of natural resources

 Name Content Relationship with the project Reference

River Basin planning in the Oulujoki-Iijoki River Basin District

The river basin plan includes informa-tion of the district’s river basins, their loads and other impacts of human activities, the ecological state of the river basin, the targets of river basin management, and the necessary conservation and management measures. The Government approved the river basin management plans on December 10, 2009.

The river basin action plan describes the condition of the river basin, the factors affecting the condition and the measures to achieve a good condition by 2015.

The solutions included in the plans must be taken into account in the decision-making concerning the project and any measures. The river basin management plan must be taken into account in the permit proceedings, and permit decisions must include a statement on how the plan has been taken into account.

Approved by the Government in 2009

Waterfowl Habitats Conservation Program

The objective of the waterfowl habitats conservation program is to preserve the included areas as close to their natural state as possible.

A natural reserve as defined in the Nature Conservation Act is to be established for each included habitat.

The closest areas included in the program are the Parhalahti-Syölätin-lahti and Heinikarinlampi area, located a few kilometers from the project location.

The project’s impact on these areas will be assessed within the EIA procedure.

Ratified by the Govern-ment in 1982

National Strategy and Action Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Finland for the period 2006–2016 (Continuation to the National Action Plan for Biodiversity in Finland 1997–2005)

The objective is to stop the deterioration of Finnish nature’s biodiversity by 2010 and to stabilize the positive development of the state of Finnish nature during 2010–2016.

Preparations for global environmental changes, and climate change in particular, are to be made by 2016.

Objectives also include strengthening Finland’s position in the preservation of global natural biodiversity through international cooperation.

Nuclear power can replace

combustion-based energy production forms and reduce the average carbon dioxide emissions of electricity production in Finland. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in energy production helps to control climate change. Oulu Province and the southwest parts of the Lapland Province (METSO’s pilot phase 2003–2007)

The objective of the program is to stop the decline in forest habitat types and forest types and to stabilize a favorable biodiversity trend by 2020.

At the pilot phase of the program, the objective was to develop new volun-tary conservation methods for secur-ing biodiversity in privately owned forests. One such method based on voluntariness is natural values trading where the forest owner is committed to maintaining the area’s natural values for a fixed-term period in exchange for compensation.

The Hanhikivi region was a model area in the “From Sea to Forest”

cooperation network of the METSO pilot project (2004–2006). In 2005 and 2006, approximately 150 hectares was decided to be conserved in the region through natural values trading for a ten-year period.

Ratified by the Govern-ment in 2008

113 6 The project’s relationship with plans and programs concerning environmental protection and the use of natural resources

 Name Content Relationship with the project Reference

Natura 2000 network

The purpose of the Natura 2000 network is to preserve biodiversity in the European Union area and to implement the conservation objectives of the Habitats and Birds Directives.

The general objective of the Habitats Directive is to achieve and maintain a favorable protection level for certain species and habitat types. Species must be preserved in their natural habitat in the long term, and their natural range must not be narrowed.

In addition, there must be a sufficient number of habitats for species to secure the preservation of the population in the long term.

The general objective of the Bird Directive is to maintain certain bird populations at a level which corre-sponds to the ecological, scientific and cultural requirements.

The closest Natura 2000 areas are the Parhalahti-Syölätinlahti and Heinikarinlampi areas located south of the Hanhikivi headland.

A Natura impact assessment as referred to in the Nature Conservation Act has been carried out for these areas as part of the regional land use planning in 2009.

Ratified by the Govern-ment in 1998

114 7 Assessment methods, the present state of the environment and the assessed environmental impacts

7

Assessment methods,