Siemens wants to shift responsibility for nuclear waste onto German state – report

Industrial giant Siemens wants to get rid of its nuclear energy legacy and shift responsibility for about 10,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste onto the German state, Gerhard Hegmann writes for Welt Online. Hegmann says that Siemens, which used to be involved in nuclear power plant construction before shifting its focus to cleaner technologies like wind power, wants to be treated like Germany’s nuclear plant operators, and hand over responsibility for the disposal of hundreds of tonnes of nuclear waste. Siemens is currently responsible for about 5 percent of the total nuclear waste in Germany, according to Welt Online.

Siemens told the newspaper that regulation that gives industrial companies the same rights as energy companies would be “desirable”. The company currently has about 710 million euros reserved for the waste’s disposal until the 2060s, Hegmann writes.

Germany’s nuclear power plant operators have paid over 24 billion euros into a publicly-owned fund that is charged with financing the country’s nuclear clean-up. While the energy companies pay for deconstructing their nuclear plants, the state is responsible for ensuring that nuclear waste is stored safely.