New building at the interim storage facility in Lubmin: Active public participation

Source: EWN GmbH

Display of construction documents has ended - objections to be discussed

EWN Entsorgungswerk für Nuklearanlagen GmbH, the company responsible for the dismantling and disposal of nuclear power plants in Eastern Germany, has requested authorisation from the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) to build a new replacement transport cask storage facility (Ersatztransportbehälterlager (ESTRAL)) at the Interim Storage North (Zwischenlager Nord (ZLN)) in Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). The public can partake in the planning process of EWN GmbH. An environmental impact assessment will be carried out with public participation. In a first step, the documents relating to the new construction project were publicly displayed from February 11 to April 11, 2022, and citizens had the opportunity to raise objections.

During this period, BASE received a total of three objections from social organisations - specifically from the Federal Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regional association of BUND and the Schacht Konrad e.V. working group – as well as four individual objections. All objections are currently under examination. As the responsible licencing authority, BASE examines the operator's project and involves the public in the process.

Hearing to take place in four to six months

The next step will be to evaluate the objections. BASE will schedule a hearing in the second half of the year; the date will be announced in good time on the website www.base.bund.de, among other places. In addition, as soon as the date is announced, BASE will send invitations to participants. These include the persons who have submitted objections, representatives of EWN Entsorgungswerk für Nuklearanlagen GmbH and other authorities and experts consulted by the authorities. The objectors may also call in their own experts. The hearing is intended to give those who have submitted objections the opportunity to present them; the objections will also be discussed if the objectors are not present. BASE will consider the results of the hearing in the licensing procedure.

New building for 74 transport and storage containers

The federally owned company EWN GmbH processes and stores all types of radioactive waste at the Interim Storage North near Lubmin. In the future, a new building there is to replace the hall currently used as an interim storage facility for high-level radioactive waste. The reason being that the hardening prescribed for all existing interim storage facilities for high-level radioactive waste, i.e. safety-related retrofitting, cannot be realised. On May 29, 2019, EWN GmbH requested approval of a new building to store nuclear fuel. EWN GmbH intends to construct a building in the vicinity of the existing interim storage facility to accommodate the 74 transport and storage casks located in the current interim storage facility. The requested storage licence shall be valid until 2051, thus corresponding to the time limit of the current licence.