OREANDA-NEWS. On February 04, 2007 Lietuvos Energija AB has signed an agreement with a consortium which is going to conduct a study and prepare a report on the Environmental Impact Assessment for the new nuclear power plant, reported the press-centre of Lietuvos Energija.

A group of experts that has won a 4,428m LTL contract in an open international competition consists of the specialists of the Finnish company Poyry Energy Oy and the scientists of the Lithuanian Energy Institute.

“In August 2008 we are to present the EIA report and we expect active participation of the public in open debates to make comments and proposals", - said the head of the Nuclear Energy Department Strategic Planning of Lietuvos Energija Tadas Matulionis.  He said that a final decision on admissibility of the construction of the new nuclear power plant will be made after having considered the conclusions of the responsible institutions, the public opinion, the results of international consultations with Latvia, Belarus and other countries that could be affected by the operation of the nuclear power plant.

The procedure of the NPP EIA is to be finalized by February 2009.

Lietuvos Energija AB started the environmental impact assessment for the new nuclear power plant in May 2007 and presented the EIA programme at the end of July 2007. The programme establishes the aspects of a potential environmental impact, which have to be assessed in the EIA study and included in the report. The programme was explicitly presented to the Lithuanian public; there were meetings with the residents of the regions neighbouring the construction site of the new NPP and with the community of scientists. The organizers of the programme thoroughly assessed the comments that they received from 138 state and municipal institutions and 49 residents.

The consultants who are to conduct the EIA study have built a strong team of the Lithuanian and international experts. Besides the members of the consortium, the EIA study will be prepared in cooperation with 5 Lithuanian and international subcontractors: the Finnish Meteorological Institute,  Environmental Impact  Assessment Centre of Finland Ltd, RAIT UAB, the Lithuanian Metalecological Society and the National Public Health Investigation Centre.