Longer site selection procedure – longer interim storage
The storage periods for intermediate storage are limited. What does the prolonged site selection procedure mean for the intermediate storage of high-level radioactive waste?
There is a deliberate time limit on interim storage licences
In the early 2000s, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, the competent licensing authority at the time, deliberately limited the nuclear licences for the storage of in facilities to 40 years. The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) is the licensing authority today. The time limit was based on the roadmap of a concept for an open-ended search for a site (AkEnd), which proposed the construction of an operational by 2030. The federal government made it clear that, although facilities provide the necessary protection for people and the environment for a limited period of time, they must not become final storage facilities.
The licence for the Gorleben interim storage facility (in German) is therefore limited to 31 December 2034, and the licence for the Ahaus interim storage facility (in German) is limited to 31 December 2036. The licences for the on-site facilities will expire in the 2040s.
As the original approach to the search for a site proved to be unfeasible, and following an interim extension of the operating lives of nuclear power plants, a second decision to phase out nuclear power in 2013 paved the way for the first open-ended, science-based, non-partisan site selection procedure. When the search for a site was resumed - with the aim of finding a site by 2031 - it was already foreseeable that licences would expire before a could be commissioned.
The German Bundestag must be involved
Several years after the start of the site selection procedure, a decision has now been pushed considerably further into the future (see information box: 'Timetable for the search for a site'). This means that high- waste will have to be stored at facilities for a longer period of time. The need for longer raises a number of issues that need to be resolved in good time before the licences expire. However, even with extended storage, facilities are only a temporary solution. The best long-term solution is still a deep geological .
The legislator has considered the case of necessary longer and has provided for this in the regulation in Section 6, Paragraph 5, Sentence 2 of the Atomic Energy Act: The period may be extended in accordance with Section 6, Paragraph 3 of the Atomic Energy Act if there are "compelling reasons" and the German Bundestag has been "consulted in advance".
If there is an intention to extend the period
- the operators - for most facilities, this is BGZ Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung – must declare their intentions in writing at least eight years before the licence expires, or in individual cases at least six years before the licence expires;
- The public must be formally involved (BASE provides comprehensive information on all relevant procedures);
- All safety requirements must be reviewed according to the current state of science and technology.
Only when all requirements have been met will BASE authorise further storage at the facility.
Prolonged storage opens up new questions
Following many years of operation, BASE currently sees no indications of any safety deficits. However, the issues arising from longer-term storage in facilities need to be identified at an early stage:
- Can the safety of the casks and the facilities be guaranteed at the same high as at present, even over longer operating periods?
- What are the technical and organisational considerations?
- In view of the phase-out of nuclear energy, there are also questions regarding the maintenance of expertise among the staff of the licensing and nuclear regulatory authorities, the authorised experts and the operators of the facilities.
Start of research activities
The operators of the facilities are primarily responsible for addressing these issues. BASE has also launched its own research activities with other . The BASE research strategy and research agenda define the framework within which specific research projects are carried out. They enable BASE staff to evaluate future application procedures for storage licences based on the current state of science and technology.
Since April 2023, for example, two research projects have been running in cooperation with the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing on safety-related aspects of the casks during longer periods. The focus is on the metal seals of the casks.
An overview of further research projects can be found on the research page on the transport and storage of high- radioactive materials.
Stand: 2023.07.21