Germany's search for nuclear repository runs into first difficulties

Germany’s search for a final repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste is running into first difficulties as civil society groups criticise how public participation is organised, and some states and councils demand their region is ruled out as a possible location, Tagesspiegel Background reports. Environmental activists and civil society groups are unhappy with the online events held in the latest round of consultations over the search methods, resulting in Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) refusing to participate in the latest session. The environment ministry of the state of Thuringia, where several model areas for the development of the search methods are situated, also criticised the process, demanding more transparency and information. “Numerous municipalities throughout the country are addressing the issue with working groups, requesting expert opinions and passing resolutions against the suitability of their own areas,” Tagesspiegel Background writes.

The criticism is aimed at the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE), which is tasked with organising the search for a nuclear waste repository that can be filled from 2050. In September 2020 the BGE published an initial report indicating that 90 areas covering over 54 percent of the country could be possible locations for the repository that is to last for 1 million years.