Bosnia‑Herzegovina challenges Croatia over Trgovska Gora radioactive waste storage at Geneva hearing

Bosnia and Herzegovina has lodged a complaint against Croatia for planning to store low‑ and intermediate‑level radioactive waste on Trgovska Gora, a hill just a few hundred metres from the BiH border near Novi Grad. The waste would come from the Krško nuclear plant as well as hospitals, industry and the military. Approximately 250,000 residents of the Republika Srpska entity and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina live in the potential impact zone.

BiH alleges that Croatia breached the Espoo Convention on transboundary environmental impact assessment and the Aarhus Convention on public participation. A hearing before the Espoo Convention Committee is scheduled in Geneva on Thursday. The Committee’s recommendations will be drafted for comment by both parties and discussed by signatories in December.

Bosnian officials stress that their experts were excluded from on‑site studies, while Croatian authorities point to a newly prepared environmental impact study. Environmental NGOs have voiced concerns, describing the project as a “typical dangerous nuclear facility placed near a weaker neighbouring state.”

The dispute marks the first time the Trgovska Gora case will be examined by an international body, raising the prospect of legal and political pressure on Croatia to modify or halt the waste‑storage plan.