Quantities of waste
As many as 1,750 casks of spent nuclear fuel will result from the operation of the nuclear power plants. This corresponds to a waste volume of around 27,000 m3.
Contents of the interim storage facility: irradiated nuclear fuels
The facilities mainly hold casks containing spent fuel elements from Germany's nuclear power plants, but also casks with high- from . The materials are stored there until they can be transferred to a .
The total amount of high- that will require final in Germany will amount to approximately 17,000 tonnes of heavy metal. This corresponds to a waste volume of about 27,000 m3.
Since the Federal Republic of Germany phased out the use of nuclear energy to generate electricity on 15 April 2023, this figure will no longer increase.
At present, there are still some spent fuel elements in the nuclear power plants. Following their use in the reactor, they are usually stored in a water-filled cooling pond, a so-called wet storage, for about five years. During this time, the and temperature of the irradiated fuel elements will have decreased. After one year, for example, the will have dropped to about one-hundredth of the initial value. After decay in the wet storage area, the fuel elements in Germany are reloaded into transport and storage casks and then placed in dry . The amount of irradiated fuel elements in the cooling pond is thus gradually reduced until all fuel elements have been placed in thick-walled transport and storage casks and stored at the dry facilities.
Sufficient storage capacity for nuclear fuels
The maximum capacity of the facilities for is specified in the respective licences, which set upper limits for the storage of heavy metal mass, , heat output and the number of container spaces. The capacity of the respective on-site facilities was calculated, applied for and licensed on the basis of the maximum remaining operating times of 32 years specified in the 2002 nuclear phase-out decision. Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear , eight German nuclear power plants were immediately shut down, and the operating lives of the remaining plants were reduced. Based on the estimated total number of casks required in Germany at up to 1,750, the capacities of the centralised and decentralised storage facilities are considered sufficient.
Other radioactive waste
According to current forecasts, nuclear power plants, other nuclear industry facilities and state institutions will produce around 300,000 m3 of other by 2050. The forecast for 2050 assumes that approx. 66% of other will come from nuclear power plants and the nuclear industry, and approx. 34% from government institutions. The Konrad in Salzgitter is licensed to permanently store 303,000 m3 of with negligible heat generation. This facility is currently being converted into the first to be licensed under nuclear law. In addition, up to 220,000 m3 of to be retrieved from the Asse II mine must be included in forecasts for other . Furthermore, there will be up to 100,000 m3 of residual materials from , provided that these are not recycled elsewhere.
Stand: 2024.11.27