Germany narrows search for radioactive waste repository location

The Law on the Search and Selection of a Site for a Repository for High-Level Waste stipulates a multi-phase search for a site with the best possible safety precautions and the full participation of the public, especially in the regions where the sites will be located.

In September 2020, the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) - a federally owned company within the remit of the Federal Environment Ministry - published a list of potential storage sites in Germany for radioactive waste. It identified 90 areas covering 54% of the country's surface area as potentially geologically suitable. The report excluded a site at a former salt mine in Gorleben that was previously thought suitable. The selected site would store about 1,900 containers of waste, which account for 5% of Germany's total nuclear waste but 99% of its radioactivity.

The identification of potential siting regions for surface exploration is based on the 90 sub-areas published in 2020. In this process, BGE assesses the sub-areas step by step as part of "representative preliminary safety analyses", using four assessment steps to evaluate the suitability of the sub-areas for the safe final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As things stand, 36 sub-areas are still being investigated as part of these preliminary safety analyses. From the areas that perform best in the preliminary safety analysis, potential siting regions for surface exploration are identified using the geoscientific weighing criteria defined by law.

BGE said the areas still under further consideration are located in southern Germany, eastern Germany, and the north and north-west of Germany.

"In the space of a year, our scientists have reduced the area that is still to be investigated - which accounted for around a quarter of the country's total land area - to less than 5%," said Iris Graffunder, Chair of the BGE Management Board. "Step-by-step, the repository search is therefore becoming more specific."

The company intends to propose a small number of sites (between five and ten) for surface exploration to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management by the end of 2027.

"With the progress made this year, BGE is ensuring that the timetable for the highly complex, science-based repository search remains on track," Graffunder added. "We'll continue to narrow down the areas until the end of 2027, until only a few potential siting regions remain in the running, which we'll then propose for exploration. Today's publication also ensures transparency at an early stage for people in Germany.

"We're confident that, through the ongoing site selection procedure, we'll find an excellent site for high-level radioactive waste in Germany."

A final site selection decision is scheduled for 2031 with the aim to start using the site in 2050.