environmental policy
Nuclear waste repository Schacht Konrad is delayed again
A barrel with the inscription “Back to sender” and an atomic symbol stands in front of a house in Bleckenstedt near Salzgitter near the Konrad shaft. photo
© Mia Bucher/dpa
The first approved repository for nuclear waste in Germany is to be built in Salzgitter. But the former iron ore mine will not be ready as soon as planned – namely by 2027.
The completion of the controversial nuclear waste repository Schacht Konrad in Salzgitter in the south-east of Lower Saxony has been delayed again by years. From the point of view of the responsible Federal Agency for Disposal (BGE), the plan for 2027 can no longer be achieved. According to dpa information, the BGE management informed the supervisory board on Monday. In a reassessment of the remaining construction activity, the company came to the conclusion that the work was about two years behind schedule, according to documents available to the dpa in Braunschweig.
The former iron ore mine is currently being converted into a repository for low- and medium-level radioactive nuclear waste. The mine is the first repository in Germany to be licensed under the Atomic Energy Act. As early as spring 2018, the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the BGE based in Peine announced that the repository would be completed almost five years later than planned. Since then, 2027 was the target date. Up to 303,000 cubic meters of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste are to be stored.
There are several reasons for the renewed delay. For example, the BGE underestimated the task of implementing updated safety requirements in nuclear regulations against earthquakes in the planning of all buildings. In the case of approval procedures under nuclear law, it has also been shown that the assumed duration of the procedure cannot be implemented in practice. The redesign of contracts also took longer than expected by the BGE.
In May 2021, the environmental associations BUND and Nabu submitted an application for the withdrawal or revocation of the planning approval decision for the repository. Behind this application, which calls for a fundamental reassessment of the project according to today’s safety requirements and an immediate halt to construction, is an alliance with the city of Salzgitter and, for example, the state farmers’ association.