On Wednesday, a DRD lawyer conceded that if the judge found that there had not been an appropriate assessment carried out then a decision to proceedwiththeproject had to be quashed.
The judge had previously said he was minded to quash the decision to proceedwiththeproject because, he said, the department had failed to carry out an appropriate assessment of the rivers Foyle and Finn special areas of conservation under the Habitats Directive.
Unless Japan Atomic Energy can present new information that contradicts the authority's findings by May 23, it will have to suspend its work to proceedwiththe Monju project except maintenance for safety, the statement said.
The deal also allowed Cheniere proceedwith its Sabine Pass project in Louisiana, which could be the first liquid natural gas export plant built in the United States in roughly 50 years.