Search for a repository: Albrecht takes federal responsibility | NDR.de – news

Position: 09/28/2020 18:41 – NDR 1 Welle Nord

The Federal Association for Final Storage (BGE) has its on Monday Interim report submitted on finding a location for a nuclear waste storage facility. It contains a long list of sub-areas that have favorable geological conditions to be considered as on-site repositories. Also included are the Schleswig-Holstein regions. “We will of course insist that the affected communities and municipalities can exercise their rights after the site selection process at any time,” said Schleswig-Holstein Environment Minister Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens). The federal government must do everything possible to ensure that scientific and geological criteria lead to a location and that no political arguments flow into the decision. Steffen Kanitz, Managing Director of BGE and responsible for the location selection area, emphasized that the interim report on subareas is not a final result, but a first intermediate result.

FDP: no political intrigue

Northern politicians are unanimous in their criticism of Bavaria, where there are initial voices against the procedure. In the search, only scientific knowledge and not political intrigue should play a role, said FDP energy policy spokesman Oliver Kumbartzky. Environment Minister Albrecht pointed out that they all consumed nuclear energy and thus caused the highly radioactive waste, so neither Schleswig-Holstein nor Bavaria should generally lock themselves against a location in their own country.

Areas will be further examined

The report shows 90 areas across the country that need to be examined further. According to the BGE, Schleswig-Holstein offers, among other things Areas north of a line at the level of the Danish border to Elmshorn, because clay is found in the soil here. Inland, however, there are several strips with areas containing rock salts.

A sub-area is located in the north of Schleswig-Holstein, about 33 kilometers south of the German border with Denmark. In the municipality of Sterup in fisheries, eight of the eleven technical criteria are rated as favorable. This also applies to the Langsee in the Süderfahrenstedt / Brekling area north of Schleswig. There are seven of the eleven professional criteria.

But there are also subareas that include several federal states. A region on the east coast belongs to a sub-area that includes North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt.

District Administrator: Inadequate SH Due to Sea Level

“The map now presented is an important first step on the long road to the final disposal of highly radioactive substances,” Environment Minister Albrecht said after the presentation of the interim report. The fact that the Schleswig-Holstein areas are also listed is not a surprise to Albrecht. Schleswig-Holstein has salt domes and areas with clay deposits.

“It is obvious that these regions are initially listed as potential areas, but it still says nothing about their actual suitability,” continued the green politician. Schleswig-Flensburg District Administrator Wolfgang Buschmann (independent) considers Schleswig-Holstein fundamentally unsuitable in the long term, for example due to rising sea levels.

A location should be found in eleven years

The interim report is the first stage in a long selection process. In recent years, the BGE has evaluated geological data from all 16 federal states. Based on this information, a list of regions in which a repository would be possible was created. After three additional phases of research and selection, a location must be determined. The deposit will be built underground in salt, clay or crystalline, that is, mostly granite. The federal government has set a goal of finding a place by 2031 where highly radioactive nuclear waste can be safely stored for a million years. The repository is then scheduled to start operating in 2050. A total of 10,500 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste will be stored there permanently in some 1,900 castor bean containers.

How the intermediate result was produced

For the list of so-called subareas, which was presented on Monday, the BGE evaluated existing documents on occurrences of salt, clay and crystalline rocks such as granite and filtered them. The goal: the repository should offer the best possible security for a million years. For this reason, all areas that have had mining or drilling should be excluded. No repository should be created where the subsoil itself is active: in areas at risk of earthquakes or volcanoes, for example.

Additional requirements for a possible location

The areas that are now on the list must meet the minimum requirements: the corresponding layer must be at least 100 meters thick and at least 300 meters below the ground surface. The water permeability of the rock should be low. It is also important that there is enough space for the repository in the area. Furthermore, according to the state of the art, it must be assumed that the rock will protect life on earth from radioactive waste for a million years.

Subsequently, the areas were evaluated based on the documents according to eleven criteria, the so-called geological evaluation. The result: in a region that has been declared a subzone, BGE expects favorable geological conditions for the storage of highly radioactive waste.

How to continue searching for a repository

Determining the subareas is only the first step. This is followed by more fundamental tests and assessments. The BGE then suggests an as yet undefined number of locations for a more precise aerial investigation. Exploratory drilling and measurements are carried out there. The results of this work will be evaluated. Result: at least two places where exploratory mines are being built for future research. In the end, the Bundestag should decide the location.