Nuclear Blog III: Selecting a location for a nuclear power plant

The media reported on the developer’s recent application to initiate the national designated spatial planning (riigi eriplaneering) procedure to find a location for a nuclear power plant with small modular reactors (SMRs) with a capacity of up to 600 MW. Estonia is currently in a situation where the state has acceded to the main international agreements regulating the use of nuclear technology (i.e. the UN (IAEA) and Euratom frameworks), but there is essentially no domestic legislation governing the civil use of nuclear technology. Specifically, the Radiation Act and the Electricity Market Act require a decision by the Riigikogu (i.e. the Estonian Parliament) for the construction of a nuclear power plant (nuclear facility), without specifying the content of such a decision. In June 2024, based on the final report of the Government’s nuclear energy working group and various energy policy considerations, the Riigikogu adopted a decision to “support the introduction of nuclear energy and the preparation of the legal framework.” Clear political mandate to prepare for the introduction of nuclear energy has thus been issued to the executive branch. The location of a nuclear power plant in the landscape is a geographic spot with specific spatial parameters. The physical characteristics of such a geographical location must strictly suite to the specific facility, ensure overall nuclear safety and meet the broader social objectives for land use, culture and socio-economics. The characteristics of a nuclear facility and the potential environmental, nuclear safety, security and operational risks arise from the technology used by the facility, the sources of nuclear fuel, the volumes of used materials and generated waste, the storage options, the necessary logistics network(roads, bridges, other technical networks), emissions and other specific risk scenarios. The risks associated with nuclear facilities have both local and cross-border dimensions. The Spacial Planning regulation is already in place The process of spatial planning in Estonia is governed by the Planning Act, which does not explicitly mention any nuclear facilities. However, according to § 27(1) – (2) of the Planning Act, the purpose of the designated national spatial planning (riigi eriplaneering) is to erect construction works which have a significant spatial impact, the chosen location or functioning of which elicits significant national or international interest, including power plants with a nominal electrical capacity of 150 megawatts or more, high-voltage lines with a voltage of 110 kilovolts or more, and final disposal sites for hazardous waste and the buildings necessary for their operation. The national designated spatial planning process consists of two stages – the preliminary site selection stage and the detailed solution (building rights for the plot) stage. Special national planning also includes strategic environmental impact assessment. The Planning Act provides for public consultation, the involvement of interested parties and local authorities and cooperation between public authorities. If no circumstances arise during the preliminary location selection phase that would preclude further planning of the buildings on the basis of the design conditions, the special national plan may be established on the basis of the preliminary location selection decision. According to the law, special national planning is currently the only legal procedure on the basis of which a location can be selected for a future nuclear power plant in Estonia and “reserved” for the purposes of that nuclear power plant. Site selection and nuclear safety However, during the spatial planning process, international nuclear safety requirements must be met in advance, despite the fact that there is no domestic “nuclear law” in Estonia at this stage. According to Article 8a of the EU framework directive on nuclear safety (the Nuclear Safety Directive)[1], the location of a nuclear facility must be chosen in such a way that accidents will not occur given the (external) hazards affecting the site, and should an accident still occur, it must be possible to mitigate its consequences in a timely manner and contain these consequences within a limited area. The latter means that in the event of sudden release of radioactive substances into the environment, there will be sufficient time to implement emergency (mitigation) measures outside the location of the nuclear facility, whereas in case of a large-scale release of radioactive substances into the environment, it would be possible to take emergency measures which are limited in time and space. The methodology for selecting a suitable location for a nuclear facility from the point of view of nuclear safety has been developed by the IAEA.[2] The IAEA’s international standard methodology for selecting a location for a nuclear facility (siting) can be summarised in three stages:

1. Site survey, which identifies regions within a country that are suitable or unsuitable for nuclear facilities,
2. Site selection, which involves identifying, based on safety and other suitability criteria, the suitable candidate sites (screening), ranking them and selecting the most suitable ones , and Site characterisation, which involves demonstrating the suitability of a selected site for a specific nuclear facility (e.g. a 600 MW power plant or a final disposal facility for nuclear waste), and
3. Site evaluation, which involves monitoring and identifying site-specific factors affecting nuclear safety so that they can be taken into account in the detailed spatial planning of the selected site and in the design and construction of the nuclear facility itself.

The IAEA model law regulates the nuclear facility site selection process in two stages. The first two stages mentioned above (identification of a suitable site) are concentrated at the national or political level of decision-making, and the site evaluation stage is concentrated at the level of sectoral competence (as this requires the expertise of the developer and the nuclear safety regulatory authority). Planning does not have to wait for the establishment of a regulator. As Estonia currently lacks a national “nuclear regulator”, the drafters of the national designated spatial plan should also involve the sectoral expertise. The detailed solution for the national designated spacial plan will establish the building rights for a specific plot of land at the similar detail level as compared to the detailed spatial plan or design terms. Consequently, all three IAEA siting stages must be completed during the site pre-selection stage of the national designated spatial planning process. The construction of a nuclear facility undoubtedly requires expert knowledge and supervision already at the design stage. Therefore, in the absence of more specific regulations on the construction of nuclear facilities, the site pre-selection decision under the spatial planning process should also specify the conditions on which the design conditions will bebased. If so, the Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Safety Agency (TTJA), as the technical safety regulator authorised to issue construction permits under the national designated spatial planning terms, will be able to issue the further specified design conditions for the nuclear facility pursuant to § 28(2) of the Constrcution Code (ehitusseadustik). From the developer’s point of view, it is crucial that the costly, time-consuming and labour-intensive work involved in preparing the site for the nuclear facility, which requires the expert knowledge of a number of specialists, does not have to be repeated, purely for administrative reasons, in light of Estonia’s prospective domestic nuclear regulation. In this light, the drafters of the national designated special plan should involve the IAEA and seek opportunities for cooperation with allied countries with long-standing experience in nuclear energy (e.g. Finland, Canada).

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[1] Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom of 25 June 2009 establishing a general framework for nuclear safety of nuclear installations, OJ L 172, 2.7.2009, pp. 18-22. [2] IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-35 2015 Site Survey and Site Selection for Nuclear Installations. Available at: https://www.iaea.org/publications/10696/site-survey-and-site-selection-for-nuclear-installations; IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSR-1, available at https://www.iaea.org/publications/13413/site-evaluation-for-nuclear-installations, see also the spatial analysis sub-group of the Government of the Republic’s nuclear energy working group. Compilation of a spatial analysis of potential locations for a nuclear power plant and a final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel. Final report available at: https://kliimaministeerium.ee/media/9544/download