Status: 09/10/2022 7:11 p.m
Switzerland wants to build its repository for nuclear waste on the border with Germany – although the location had previously been described as unsuitable. The plans could still be overturned by a referendum.
Switzerland has been looking for a site for a nuclear waste repository for decades. It is now clear where the repository is to be built: The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) is planning the repository in the Nördlich Lägern area near the German border, partly within sight of Hohentengen in Baden-Württemberg.
Nagra boss Matthias Braun told Swiss radio SRF that the best location for a repository had been found in Nördlich Lägern. The decisive factor was clearly the geology. A detailed justification will be presented at a press conference in Bern on Monday.
location had originally been discarded
Opponents of the location criticized the selection process as non-transparent. The local Swiss group “Nördlich Lägern ohne Tiefenlager LoTi” said that Nagra had to explain why it rejected the site years ago and then included it in the search again.
Radioactive waste is to be stored deep underground in the repository from 2050: high-level radioactive fuel elements from the nuclear power plants, but also low- and medium-level radioactive waste such as contaminated protective clothing, pipes and insulation materials from the nuclear power plants, as well as waste from research, medicine and industry.
All potential locations near Germany
The authorities had informed the affected population this Saturday. There was a choice of three locations for the repository. All are close to the German border on the High Rhine. In the past few years, Nagra had examined the rock in the areas with deep drilling. The shale there is considered suitable for enclosing radioactive waste as safely as possible for hundreds of thousands of years.
Site selection is now an intermediate step in a long process. The Swiss government is only likely to make the binding decision at the end of this decade. Parliament must then approve the decision. In the end, a referendum could overturn the entire process and the search for a repository would have to start all over again.
Four nuclear power plants in operation
The nuclear waste that has accumulated so far in Switzerland is currently still lying in halls on the ground near the nuclear power plants and in two interim storage facilities. Switzerland has operated nuclear power plants since 1969. One is decommissioned, four are still in operation. The search for a repository began decades ago. From the early 1980s, Nagra had carried out deep drilling at various locations in order to gain insight into the geological structure of Switzerland.
Concern on the German side
On the German side in Baden-Württemberg, the process in Switzerland is being closely monitored. The communities near the border are concerned, among other things, with the issue of drinking water supply. The coordination office at the Hochrhein-Bodensee regional association said that the question of drinking water protection was a major concern for the population.
In the run-up to the current decision, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment and Energy had announced that if the geologically safest location was near the border, that could be accepted. Environment Minister Thekla Walker from the Greens told the dpa news agency on Wednesday that the state of Baden-Württemberg was pushing for the safest location and would also demand the best possible security facilities and transport concepts. “The protection of our citizens from radioactive radiation must be guaranteed,” said Walker.