Does the government plan to enforce the Act on the involvement of municipalities in the siting process for a repository?

Open letter to Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec and the Minister of Industry and Trade Tomáš Hüner

Press release of the Platform Against Deep Repository dated January 24, 2018

The Platform Against Deep Repository expressed its grave concern today that the draft Act on the involvement of municipalities in the siting process for a deep geological repository is missing in the draft Government Legislative Work Plan for 2018 and in the outlook for the years 2019-2021. In an open letter, the Platform called upon both ministers Richard Brabec and Tomáš Hüner not only to amend but also to prepare a law in a discussion with the affected municipalities so that the proposal could be submitted to the government by the end of June 2018.

According to Government Resolution No. 27 of 16th January 2017, "before 30th June 2018, the Minister of Industry and Trade has to prepare and submit to the Government a new draft Act on the involvement of municipalities in the siting process for a deep geological repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel." However, the expert group established under this government resolution under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and in which the Ministry of the Environment has also been represented, has not yet reached any proposal and there is a threat that promises will remain unfulfilled again. 

The Platform Against Deep Repository, which brings together 35 municipalities and associations from all seven sites, advocates for that communities have a better opportunity to defend their legitimate interests in siting proces for a repository. Current options are inadequate and lead to unnecessary conflicts.

New Atomic Act No. 263/2016 Coll., Paragraph 108, Article (4) also provides for this special law: "A special law shall specify the procedure for establishing the exploration permits for the deep geological repository for radioactive waste, the procedure for establishing the protected area for deep geological repository for radioactive waste, the procedure for permitting the operation of the deep geological repository and the procedure to ensure respect for the interests of the municipalities which will receive financial contributions from the nuclear account according to Section 117 (1), and their citizens involved in these proceedings".

Petr Nohava, a spokesman for the Deep Storage Platform, said: "Relying on promises is a mistake. As we have seen many times in the past, promises made to municipalities do not mean much. That is why the law on the involvement of municipalities is so crucial and it should give our citizens at least some possibility to defend their interests."

Further information can be provided by:

• Ing. Petr Nohava, Mayor of Pluhův Žďár and spokesman for the Platform Against Deep Repository - tel.: 725 972 632, e-mail:pnohava AT gmail DOT com^[1]

Attachment: Open Letter of 24th January 2018 by the Platform Against Deep Repository addressed to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec and Minister of Industry and Trade Tomas Hüner 

1. ↑ For protection against automatical email address robots searching for addresses to send spam to them this email address has been made unreadable for them. To get a correct mail address you have to displace "AT" by the @-symbol and "DOT" by the dot-character (".").