VI. ANÁLISIS DE LOS DATOS OBTENIDOS CON LA ENCUESTA
6.3. INFORMACIÓN COMPLEMENTARIA DE LA MYPE
• Preliminary safety assessment from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority
• Approval from the location municipality
• Decision-in-Principle from the Government
• Ratification from the Parliament
Construction of the infrastructure and the plant
Operating licence pursuant to the Nuclear Energy Act from the Government
Commissioning of the power plant
Monitoring and potential renewal of permits EIA report
102 5 Licenses, permits, plans, notifications and decisions required for the project The licenses, permits, notifications and decisions related to
the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant are illustrated in figure 5-1.
5.1 Land use planning
5.1.1 General
Land use and building are regulated by the Land Use and Building Act (132/1999) and Decree (895/1999). The land use planning system consists of the national land use guidelines and three planning levels: the regional land use plan, the local master plan and the local detailed plan.
The national land use guidelines (VAT) were approved by the Finnish Government on November 30, 2000, and they entered into force on June 1, 2001. The content of the guidelines was reviewed on November 13, 2008. Moreover, on December 22, 2009, the Government decided that the national inventory of the built cultural environment of national importance (RKY 2009), prepared by the National Board of Antiquities, replaces the 1993 inventory referred to in the national land use guidelines.
The purpose of the national land use guidelines is to ensure that matters of national importance are taken into consideration in land use and planning all over the coun-try. The national land use guidelines must be taken into account and advanced in the actions of the state’s authori-ties and regional and municipal planning.
The guidelines are mainly implemented in regional land use planning where the objectives are aligned with regional and local conditions and objectives. The guidelines are also to be taken into consideration in the regional plan and programs. The nature of some guidelines requires that they must be taken directly into account in municipal planning.
In municipalities, the local master plan is an essential tool for the practical implementation of the national land use guidelines and the regional land use plan.
The regional land use plan is a master plan of land use within a region or parts of it. It presents the principles of land use and the urban structure and indicates areas impor-tant for regional development. The purpose of the regional land use plan is to settle national, regional and local issues regarding land use. The regional land use plan can also be prepared in stages, as a plan concerning a certain entity.
The regional land use plan prescribes planning in municipalities and other land use planning by the author-ities. The plan is presented on a map using plan symbols and regulations. The regional land use plan also includes a review, presenting the plan’s objectives, impacts and other information required for the interpretation and implemen-tation of the plan.
The regional land use plan is prepared by the regional council and approved by the regional assembly. The plan is ratified by the Ministry of the Environment, after which it becomes legally valid. Complaints against the council’s decision can be filed with the Ministry of the Environment.
Complaints against the Ministry’s decisions, in turn, can be filed with the Supreme Administrative Court.
The local master plan is a municipality’s general land use plan. Its purpose is to define the locations for various urban functions, such as housing, services, workplaces and recrea-tional areas, and organize connections between them. Mas-ter planning defines the principles of targeted development and prescribes the preparation of local detailed plans for the area.
The local master plan can apply to the entire munici-pality or a certain area, in which case it is called a partial master plan. The plan is presented on a map, including plan symbols and regulations and a review.
The municipality is responsible for preparing the local master plan. The plan is approved by the town or commu-nity council. If municipalities have prepared local master plan jointly, it is approved by a joint body of the municipal-ities and ratified by the Ministry of the Environment. The local master plan will enter into force once its approval is publicly announced.
The local detailed plan defines the future use of an area.
The plan defines, for example, the environment to be pre-served, and what can be built and how. The plan can also define the location, size, and purpose of buildings. The local detailed plan can apply to an entire residential area, includ-ing housinclud-ing, work, and recreational areas, or a sinclud-ingle lot.
The local detailed plan is prepared by the municipality.
The local detailed plan includes a map and plan sym-bols and regulations. The local detailed plan includes a review describing the plan’s preparation process and central features.
Building in coastal areas can be prescribed with a shore plan.
5.1.2 Planning required by the project
The implementation of the planned nuclear power plant project at Hanhikivi headland, Pyhäjoki, has required that the necessary areas for the plant have been indicated in the land use plans for the planned site location. Procedures pur-suant to the Land Use and Building Act (132/1999) have been followed to prepare the land use plans of all three planning levels for the Hanhikivi headland, as required by the project.
The Council of Oulu Region has been responsible for preparing the regional land use plan. The local master and detailed plans have been prepared by the municipality of Pyhäjoki and the Town of Raahe. The plans of all three levels of planning are legally valid. For a more detailed account of the land use planning concerning the Hanhi-kivi headland, see Section 7.2.1.2.
5.2 Licenses and permissions pursuant to the Nuclear Energy Act
The Nuclear Energy Act (990/1987) prescribes the general principles of the use of nuclear energy, the implementation of nuclear waste management and the licenses required for using nuclear energy. The purpose of the act is to ensure
103 5 Licenses, permits, plans, notifications and decisions required for the project
that the use of nuclear energy is in the overall interest of society and safe for people and the environment.
5.2.1 Decision-in-Principle
According to the Nuclear Energy Act, the construction of a nuclear facility of considerable general significance, such as a nuclear power plant, shall require a Government Deci-sion-in-Principle in that the construction of the nuclear power plant is in line with the overall good of society. The Decision-in-Principle is applied for using an application submitted to the Government.
In addition to basic project information, the Deci-sion-in-Principle application must include reports of the expertise and financial operational conditions available to the applicant and the nuclear facility’s general signifi-cance for the nation’s energy management, the use of other nuclear power plants, and their nuclear waste management.
For each nuclear power plant project, the application is to include rough descriptions of the plant’s technical opera-tional principles, the safety principles to be followed in the project, a rough plan of nuclear fuel management and the applicant’s plans for organizing nuclear waste manage-ment. The application is also to include rough descriptions of the ownership and administrative relationships in the planned location and its suitability for its intended purpose as well as a report of the functions and planning arrange-ments in the nuclear power plant’s planned location and its surroundings.
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy must obtain a preliminary safety assessment on the basis of the application from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Author-ity and a statement from the Ministry of the Environment, as well as from the municipal council of the selected munic-ipality and the neighboring municipalities.
Before the Decision-in-Principle is made, the applicant shall compile a general public description of the plant project, its safety and the expected environmental effects.
The description shall comply with instructions issued by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and will be reviewed by the Ministry before being published. The report must be made publicly available. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy shall provide the residents and municipalities in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear facility, as well as the local authorities, with an opportunity to present their opinions towards the project before the Decision-in-Principle is made. Furthermore, the Ministry shall arrange a public event in the municipality where the facility is planned to be located. The public shall have an opportunity to give their opinions at the event. These opin-ions shall be made known to the Government.
According to the Nuclear Energy Act, the Government can only give a favorable Decision-in-Principle regarding the plant location if the site municipality’s statement men-tioned above supports the project. The Government must also be able to find that it is possible to build and operate the plant so that it is safe and does not cause any danger to people, the environment or property. The Government must also consider the issue from the perspective of the
overall good of society, with special attention paid to the following:
• the need for the nuclear facility project with respect to the country’s energy supply
• the suitability of the planned location of the nuclear facility, and its environmental impacts
• arrangements for the nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management.
The Government’s Decision-in-Principle shall be forwarded to Parliament for perusal. Parliament may reverse the Deci-sion-in-Principle or decide that it remains in force as such, but it cannot amend its content. The applicant cannot make any significant and financially binding acquisition agreements related to the construction of the plant before the Decision-in-Principle enters into force.
In January 2009, Fennovoima submitted an application to the Government for a Decision-in-Principle concern-ing the construction of a nuclear power plant. Based on the application, the Government issued a favorable Deci-sion-in-Principle on May 6, 2010. Parliament ratified the Decision-in-Principle on July 1, 2010.
As the project currently subjected to an environmental impact assessment (one pressurized water reactor with the approximate electric power of 1,200 MW) is not mentioned as a plant alternative in Fennovoima’s original application for a Decision-in-Principle, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy requires that the following additional measures are carried out:
• Fennovoima updates the project’s environmental impact assessments
• the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority assesses the safety of the current plant alternative
• the Municipality of Pyhäjoki issues a statement on the matter
• the Ministry of Employment and the Economy organ-izes a public hearing in accordance with the Nuclear Energy Act.
After these clarifications have been completed, it will be decided whether the currently valid Decision-in-Principle also covers the present plant alternative or whether the Decision-in-Principle ratified by Parliament in July 2010 must be reprocessed.
5.2.2 Construction license
The Government grants the license to construct a nuclear facility. A license to construct a nuclear facility may be granted if the Decision-in-Principle ratified by Parliament has deemed the construction of a nuclear facility to be in line with the overall good of society and the construction of a nuclear facility also meets the preconditions for granting a construction license for a nuclear facility as provided in Section 19 of the Nuclear Energy Act. These preconditions include:
• the plans concerning the nuclear facility meet the safety requirements laid down in the Nuclear Energy Act, and the safety of employees and the population have been
104 5 Licenses, permits, plans, notifications and decisions required for the project appropriately taken into account when planning the
operations;
• the location of the nuclear facility is appropriate with regard to safety and environmental protection has been appropriately taken into account;
• safety arrangements have been taken into account when planning operations;
• the area is reserved in the local detailed plan for the con-struction of a nuclear facility as referred to in the Land Use and Building Act (132/1999) and the applicant has control over the area as required by the plant operations;
• the methods and plans available to the applicant for arranging nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management, final disposal of nuclear waste and decommissioning of the plant are sufficient and appropriate; and
• the applicant has the necessary expertise available, pos-sesses sufficient financial conditions, and is otherwise considered to have the prerequisites to engage in its operations safely and in accordance with Finland’s inter-national contractual obligations.
The Decision-in-Principle includes the condition that Fen-novoima shall apply for a construction license referred to in the Nuclear Energy Act within five years of Parliament’s decision that the Decision-in-Principle shall remain in force; this period of five years will end on June 30, 2015.
5.2.3 Operating license
The Government grants the license to operate a nuclear facility. The license to operate a nuclear facility can be issued as soon as the license has been granted to con-struct it, providing the preconditions listed in Section 20 of the Nuclear Energy Act are met. These preconditions include:
• the nuclear facility and its operation meet the statutory safety requirements, and the safety of employees and the population and environmental protection have been appropriately taken into account;
• the methods available to the applicant for arranging nuclear waste management, including the final disposal of nuclear waste and the decommissioning of the facility, are sufficient and appropriate;
• the applicant has sufficient expertise available and, in particular, the competence of the operating staff and the operating organization of the nuclear facility are appro-priate; and
• the applicant is considered to have the financial and other prerequisites to engage in operations safely and in accordance with Finland’s international contractual obligations.
Operation of the nuclear facility shall not be started on the basis of the license granted until the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority has ascertained that the nuclear facility meets the prerequisites prescribed by law, and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy has stated that provision for the cost of nuclear waste management has been arranged in a manner required by law.
5.3 Notifications pursuant to the Euratom Treaty
The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) Treaty requires that each Member State provides the Com-mission with plans relating to the disposal of radioactive waste (Article 37) and that the licensee submits to the Commission an investment notification (Article 41) and declares to the Commission the technical characteristics of the facility for nuclear materials safeguarding purposes (Article 78).
5.4 Building permit
A building permit in accordance with the Land Use and Building Act (132/1999) must be applied for regarding the power plant buildings. For large projects, such as the construction of a power plant, the building permit can be applied for the power plant building and other related structures and buildings in one or more parts.
The building permit is obtained from the building per-mit authorities of the municipality in which the plant is located, which, when granting the permit, will ensure that the construction plan is in accordance with the ratified local detailed plan and the building codes. Building permit applications in the municipality of Pyhäjoki are currently the responsibility of the Raahe building and environmental control services.
A building permit is required before construction can be started. The issuance of a building permit also requires that the environmental impact assessment procedure has been completed.
Building permits must also be applied to any temporary storage or office buildings and the concrete batching plant used during the construction phase.
Commencement of earth-moving and excavating work requires an action or landscape work permit pursuant to the Land Use and Building Act.
5.5 Flight obstacle permit and no-fly zone
According to the Aviation Act (1194/2009), a flight obstacle permit is required for setting a device, building, struc-ture or sign that extends more than 30 meters above the ground. The permit is required as an enclosure with the building permit application for the nuclear facility. The flight obstacle permit is applied for from the Finnish Civil Aviation Authority. The application must include a state-ment provided by the appropriate airline service supplier (Finavia Oyj).
A flight obstacle permit will also be required for any large cranes during the construction process.
According to the Aviation Act, a no-fly zone can be pre-scribed in the vicinity of nuclear power plants through a
105 5 Licenses, permits, plans, notifications and decisions required for the project
Government decree. A no-fly zone refers to airspace with defined limits above a country’s land area or territorial waters where aircrafts are forbidden to fly. However, the no-fly zone is not directly a requirement for nuclear power plants and its size is not prescribed by law. The surrounding areas of the Loviisa and Olkiluoto nuclear power plants are prescribed as no-fly zones through a Government decree. A no-fly zone will also be defined for Fennovoima’s nuclear power plant.