Germany seeks to accelerate nuclear waste site selection

Germany’s Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) and the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) are asking the government to speed up the selection process of a site to host the country’s planned high-level radioactive waste repository. The process involves all German federal states and regions, examining and evaluating areas for their suitability through different phases of the search procedure. The site selection procedure is currently in Phase I, which seeks to identify sub-areas and siting regions. BGE has collected and evaluated geological data from the federal states and published an initial report on sub-areas. The company proposes to merge Phases II and III which will gradually identify three optimal sites and compare them. BGE intends to propose a short list of sites for surface exploration to BASE by the end of 2027. Originally, it was stipulated that a siting decision should be made in 2031. However, BGE said the site selection process is taking significantly longer than expected. In addition to permits, the exploration work also requires several rights of use and access to the land to be investigated, entailing administrative and technical delays.
To speed up the process, BGE proposes applying to the search of the site regulations already used for renewable energies. It also wants to structure the exploration phase along the guidelines used for the search for raw materials. On its part, BASE supports a shortening of procedures, stating that accelerating the search for the site is necessary to guarantee “the ultimate safety of people from high-level radioactive waste” and “the trust of citizens in the process.” It proposes to limit the number of location regions at the end of Phase I to six and enable exploration work to continue all year through legal adjustments. The aim should be to develop a binding timetable for all parties involved in the process, identifying a potential safe site for 2050. According to BASE, the proposed measures have the greatest acceleration potential and should be implemented quickly to ensure their full impact.
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety & Consumer Protection (BMUV) said it is examining the submitted proposals and will soon contact BGE and BASE to discuss ways to accelerate the process.