Czech parliament unlikely to legislate municipal veto on radioactive waste repository construction

The Chamber of Deputies is unlikely to legislate a right for municipalities to veto the construction of a deep geological repository for radioactive waste on their territory, although individual MPs from the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL), the Pirates and the Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) proposed this today in line with the wishes of the affected municipalities. The lower house of parliament is expected only to extend the deadlines in the government bill, giving municipalities more time to state their position on the repository’s construction. MPs could decide on the bill by the end of September.

Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (STAN) said that „the right of veto has no equivalent for similarly significant public-interest projects“. He recalled a 2020 ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court, according to which no one can assert a veto simply because they do not want potential negative impacts in their vicinity. The minister added that the possibility of a veto was not included in the bill’s policy outline prepared by the previous government led by Andrej Babiš (ANO).

MPs Vít Kaňkovský (KDU-ČSL), Klára Kocmanová (Pirates) and Radek Koten (SPD) proposed adding a requirement for municipal consent to the construction of the repository to the government bill. They recommended drawing on similar Finnish legislation. Kaňkovský himself, however, acknowledged in the debate that the proposal would not win majority support in the Chamber of Deputies. The requirement is being called for by the Platform Against the Deep Geological Repository, which brings together 52 municipalities and associations. It asked the government to substantially revise the bill. According to the platform, the proposal does not strengthen the position of municipalities in the joint decision-making process. It also warned ministers of the risk that the time available for geological surveys and the selection of a final repository site could be cut short, with a site chosen as early as 2028, as proposed by the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (SÚRAO).

Koten’s proposal also provides, in line with the government bill, that the government’s decision on the repository site would require the approval of both chambers of parliament, a provision the Chamber of Deputies’ Economic Affairs Committee recommended removing. According to Berenika Peštová (ANO), the largest opposition group will not support Koten’s proposal either. The MP said it was unacceptable for the decision to be made by the Chamber of Deputies, where even the consideration of legislation is being blocked.

Under the committee’s amendments, the bill on proceedings related to a deep geological repository for radioactive waste would give municipalities 140 days to comment on a proposal to site the repository. The government proposed a 90-day deadline. The law would explicitly require the Ministry of Industry and Trade to discuss the siting proposal with the Ministry of the Environment and with residents of the affected municipalities in the area concerned. It would also allow the government to set compensation payments for affected municipalities above the amounts stipulated by law.

According to Síkela (STAN), the law establishes the rules for the individual proceedings, primarily setting out the rights of affected municipalities. It is intended to legislate rules for oral hearings and, above all, define the so-called status of affected municipalities as parties to proceedings on the designation of a protected area for a deep geological repository. The government will establish a working group to communicate with municipalities, which should make it easier for them to participate in preparing and operating the repository.

SÚRAO wants to investigate four areas for the repository: Horka and Hrádek in the Vysočina region, Janoch near the Temelín nuclear power plant in South Bohemia, and Březový potok in the Klatovy area. Preparations for geological surveys and research will begin later this year. The site for a repository for spent nuclear fuel is expected to be selected in 2030; according to the platform opposing the repository, the law would bring that deadline forward by two years. Thousands of tonnes of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants are to be permanently stored in the repository half a kilometre underground. The repository was originally due to be completed by 2065, but accelerating its construction is now being discussed because nuclear energy has been temporarily included among green investments in the EU. The condition is that countries relying on nuclear energy must have deep geological repositories from 2050.