VDP Srl

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

As part of the decommissioning activities for SOGIN Nuclear Power Plant in Caorso (Emilia-Romagna), a monitoring program regarding vegetation, flora and fauna has been implemented. The monitoring is conducted in compliance with the EIA requirements stated in the environmental compatibility decree.

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS

Vegetation monitoring consists in identifying any potential indirect impacts in the area surrounding the power plant. The study is carried out through the control of dust deposition levels and the measurement of chlorosis values in evergreen shrubs in areas selected by the Client and on the basis of simulation model outputs concerning the dispersion of pollutants into the atmosphere.
Moreover, another project objective is the one defined by the determination of ’sensitive areas’; this selection is based on the presence of sites subjected to environmental protection or sites with inherent environmental fragility. In such areas the structure of vegetation and the presence of different habitats are analyzed through phytosociological surveys, land cover evaluations, floristic notable situations and the assessment of phytosanitary conditions of natural and semi-natural vegetation.

For what regards wildlife monitoring, data collection activities were performed on vertebrate classes such as Birds, Amphibians and Mammals. The main goal was to discover a possible impact on the mortality from road accidents involving some species particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon, like Amphibians and Mammals.
In order to assess the insignificance of the effects caused by the decommissioning activities on the fauna component, the development of biological/ecological indicators was implemented from the collected monitoring data. In particular it is important to recall the diversity indices of the monitored classes and zones and the abundance indices concerning species of special conservation interest.