Morsleben/ERAM radioactive waste repository
Low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste is stored at a depth of around 480 metres in the Morsleben repository in Saxony-Anhalt. The facility is being kept open and is scheduled for decommissioning. The procedure for this is yet to be completed. BASE is responsible for nuclear supervision of the Morsleben repository.
The Morsleben repository is located in Saxony-Anhalt, very close to the border with Lower Saxony and the nearest large town, Helmstedt. It is the first German repository to be decommissioned under atomic energy law and with the waste remaining in situ.
The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) is responsible for the decommissioning. The licensing procedure for the decommissioning is still ongoing, and the licence has not yet been issued. A central point of this procedure is the demonstration of long-term safety.
The Morsleben repository currently stores almost 37,000 cubic metres of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The objective of the decommissioning measures is to store the waste in the long term and maintenance-free, enclosed in concrete and salt.
Dates and facts
The former potash and rock salt mine was converted into a final storage site for low-level and medium-level radioactive waste:
- 1971: Licence granted for the ERAM as a final storage site
- 1971-1991: First storage phase of low-level and medium-level radioactive waste
- 1981: Temporary operating licence
- 1986: Permanent operating licence (still valid today)
- 1990: The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) becomes the operator; the permanent operating licence is considered a de facto planning approval decision and remains valid until 30 June 2000
- 1994-1998: Second storage phase of low-level and medium-level radioactive waste
- 2001: BfS irrevocably waives acceptance and final storage of further radioactive waste
- 2002: Permanent operation licence is no longer limited in time, at the same time the licence for final storage is revoked
- 2005: Submission of the decommissioning plan to the licensing authority
- 2011: Public hearing on the decommissioning plan
- The decommissioning documents are currently being revised by BGE and will be resubmitted to the licensing authority MWU.
- There is 36,752 m³ of radioactive waste in the Morsleben repository, about 60 percent of which was only stored there after 1990.
Want to know more?
The BGE provides detailed information about the Morsleben repository.
Stand: 2024.12.06