BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Ministry for the Environment assumes that a final repository for highly radioactive waste will be found in Germany by 2050, some 20 years later than originally planned. This was announced by the ministry in Berlin. It referred to the plans of the Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE) and added that not all "acceleration potentials considered possible have been taken into account". So it could go even faster.

Expert opinion had predicted significantly longer search

On Wednesday, a report by the Freiburg Institute for Applied Ecology caused a stir, according to which the search for a site for the planned underground nuclear waste storage facility could take until at least 2074 and therefore over 40 years longer than the originally stated target year of 2031.

According to the ministry: "The target year 2031 - which is to be aimed for but not necessarily adhered to - was not specified by the legislator in 2017 on the basis of a time estimate, but in order to get the process underway quickly with an ambitious target year." The press release points out that it has been known for almost two years that 2031 will not be achievable. The BGE had named 2022 as a time corridor for finding a site from 2046 to 2068.

The search for a final repository is about finding a site at depth for the permanent storage of 27,000 cubic meters of highly radioactive waste (1,750 so-called Castor containers) from more than 60 years of nuclear power in Germany. According to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), this is five percent of the radioactive waste in Germany, but it contains around 99 percent of the total radioactivity of all waste. The aim is to find a location that will be safe for a million years, as the waste radiates for hundreds of thousands of years. It is currently stored in 16 above-ground interim storage facilities in various federal states.

Ministry: interim storage containers are safe

According to the Ministry of the Environment, it is not necessary to replace the containers. The containers used for dry interim storage are also suitable for safely enclosing and shielding the radioactive material for more than forty years. "Based on current knowledge, it can be assumed that safe interim storage can be guaranteed for well beyond the 40 years of storage approved to date."

The search for a final storage site is carried out in accordance with a site selection law in a multi-stage, long-term search process with public participation. According to the "white map" principle, no federal state was excluded from the outset. In the meantime, the map is no longer white. Around 90 areas - more than half of the country's surface area - have been defined as geologically suitable for a nuclear repository. In addition to the rock strata, the search also takes into account the risk of earthquakes and population density. The Site Selection Act stipulates that a decision should be made by 2031. The final repository should be in operation from 2050 onwards./jr/DP/zb