Czech government to decide on nuclear waste repository, Pavel signs law

Only the government will decide where a deep geological repository for radioactive waste is sited and built, after prior consultation with the affected municipalities, which the cabinet may grant compensation. This is provided for in a law signed by President Petr Pavel on Thursday. Prague Castle reported the news today on its website. Unlike in Finland, the law does not give municipalities the option to veto a repository on their territory; according to the cabinet, that would be unworkable in Czech conditions.

The Chamber of Deputies pushed through a provision that government decisions on construction would not need approval from both houses of parliament, although the Senate had advocated for this in line with the cabinet’s original proposal. Senators also failed to persuade MPs that the government should be required, rather than merely allowed, to grant compensation beyond what is provided for in the Atomic Act to municipalities where the repository will be built.