There are many unanswered questions about the plans for a Swiss nuclear waste repository near the German border. The affected municipality of Hohentengen now has specific demands.
After it became known on Saturday that Switzerland preferred the “Nördlich Lägern” area as the location for a planned nuclear waste repository, the people on the Upper Rhine are worried and sometimes even angry. The area is only a few kilometers from the German border – within sight of the Baden-Württemberg municipality of Hohentengen (district of Waldshut). What is surprising is that Nördlich Lägern had already dropped out of the site selection process.
“You have to explain very well why a postponed location suddenly becomes the preferred location.”
The residents of the municipality of Hohentengen are aware that the radioactive waste is there and must be disposed of, said Mayor Martin Benz. They are also in the safest place for storage. But now questions about safety, such as accident scenarios, have to be answered.
Nuclear waste repository from 2050
From 2050, highly radioactive fuel elements from Swiss nuclear power plants are to be stored there in shale several hundred meters below the surface. This was confirmed by the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra). The packaging plant for the fuel elements is to be built at the central interim storage facility in Würenlingen, Switzerland.
“On the German side, there is the expectation that we, as neighbors, will be treated in the same way as Swiss municipalities and cantons in terms of the procedure and compensation.”
Particular geology as justification
The deciding factor for the location in Nördlich Lägern was the geology, Nagra Chairman Matthias Braun told Swiss radio SRF. A detailed justification will be presented on Monday. There were three locations to choose from for the repository in Switzerland – all are near the German border on the High Rhine between Lake Constance and Basel.
The location where the nuclear waste repository is to be built has become known in Switzerland. It is the “Nördlich Lägern” area, a few kilometers from Hohentengen in the Waldshut district.
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Concern about drinking water protection
The local initiative “Nördlich Lägern ohne Tiefenlage” reacted angrily to the decision. According to a statement, Nagra must explain well why it rejected the site years ago and then included it again in the search.
The German communities near the border are primarily concerned with the issue of drinking water supply. “We have drinking water fountains everywhere, we have the Aare and Rhine nearby,” says Martin Steinebrenner from the Hochrhein-Lake Constance regional association. The question of drinking water protection is a major concern of the population.
The Waldshuter SPD member of the Bundestag Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter said in a first statement: “The location for a repository must be the safest.” However, many questions about the radiological effects of the deep nuclear repository on people, the transboundary environment and the drinking water supply remain unanswered.
BW Minister: Will review plans
The Ministry of the Environment in Baden-Württemberg was also skeptical about the location decision. The plans will now be examined more closely, said Minister Thekla Walker (Greens) when asked by SWR. Baden-Württemberg will demand the best possible security facilities and transport concepts from Switzerland. Because many people in Baden-Württemberg are affected by the planned repository – especially in the district of Waldshut, but also in the districts of Lörrach, Constance and the Black Forest-Baar district.
The Federal Ministry for the Environment also spoke of a great burden for the population in Baden-Württemberg. “I am working with Switzerland to ensure that the good integration of our German neighbors continues,” said Christian Kühn (Greens), Parliamentary State Secretary in the ministry.
Referendum could overturn decision
The site selection is now an intermediate step in a long process. The Swiss government will not make the binding decision until the end of the decade. In the end, a referendum could overturn the entire process and the search for a repository would have to start all over again.
The nuclear waste that has accumulated in Switzerland so far is currently still lying in halls on the surface of the earth – at the nuclear power plants and in two interim storage facilities. Switzerland has operated nuclear power plants since 1969. One of the power plants has been shut down, four are still in operation.