VIPOTNIK: RESPECT ALL PROVISIONS OF THE CONVENTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 18 /SRNA/ - The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska will demand that all provisions of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context /ESPOO/ to be respected when it comes to choosing a location for the disposal of radioactive waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which Croatia plans to store at the Trgovska Gora site, line minister Bojan Vipotnik told SRNA.

Vipotnik pointed out that the Ministry, in accordance with its competences, is closely monitoring the situation, and during the day will officially request that Croatia includes BiH in the location selection process without delay. "/We will ask/ that as a potentially affected party, we participate in all stages of the location selection procedure, in order to prove, based on facts and arguments based on field and scientific research, that Čerkezovac on Trgovska Gora is not a place for nuclear waste disposal," Vipotnik stated. He said that the Fund for Financing the Decommissioning and Disposal of Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant had finally publicly disclosed its intentions. "The intention is to build a nuclear facility in our yard, and behind the neutral name of the Center for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, a landfill is hidden, the consequences of which can be unfathomable," warned Vipotnik. The Fund for Financing the Decommissioning and Disposal of Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant has selected an offer to define the guidelines on the basis of which the location for the disposal of radioactive waste will be selected. It is a joint offer of the Croatian Geological Institute and the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum, and the planned value of the contract was EUR 187,000. Croatia plans to store radioactive waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, as well as existing institutional waste, at the Trgovska Gora location in the municipality of Dvor, right on the border with BiH.