Switzerland apparently wants to build a repository for nuclear waste.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Switzerland’s plans to build a nuclear waste repository on the border with Germany have met with criticism. The Deputy Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Minister of the Interior Thomas Strobl (CDU), told the Handelsblatt: “We will critically monitor Switzerland’s decision.” “. He called on Switzerland to work together “very closely across borders, as neighbors” in the implementation.
At the weekend it became known that Switzerland wants to store nuclear waste near the Baden-Württemberg town of Hohentengen. The area called Nördlich Lägern was classified as rather unsuitable a few years ago, but has now been selected, as the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) announced on Saturday evening. Nagra wants to explain this in more detail on Monday.
The Federal Environment Ministry spoke of a “great burden” for Hohentengen and the surrounding communities. Parliamentary State Secretary Chris Kühn (Greens) announced that he would work with Switzerland to ensure that the German side continued to participate in the discussions.
Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Strobl said: “It’s about the safety of the entire border region and the safety of the most important drinking water tributaries. And there must be absolutely no concessions on safety.”
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Politicians of the traffic light coalition in the federal government see it similarly. The SPD environmental expert Carsten Träger told the Handelsblatt: “Of course we have to protect our citizens as best we can from radioactive radiation.” Therefore, after the decision there must be “close cooperation” between German and Swiss authorities. The FDP energy politician Michael Kruse added: “Switzerland would be well advised to coordinate its location for nuclear waste in a consultation with the Federal Republic of Germany.”
“We have drinking water wells everywhere”
According to the Swiss nuclear authority, the radioactive waste is to be stored in a layer of clay several hundred meters below the surface. A suitable site for a nuclear waste repository has been sought in Switzerland for almost 50 years.
The location now chosen for the storage of nuclear waste was one of three possible locations. That had caused a stir in Hohentengen years ago. “Switzerland decides to leave its radioactive waste in Switzerland and almost throws it at our neighbors’ feet,” said a local councilor at a meeting in 2016. Even today, the resentment is still great.
Martin Steinebrunner by the German Coordination Office Swiss repository (DKST) at the Hochrhein-Bodensee regional association said that the question of drinking water protection was a “great concern” among the population. “We have drinking water fountains everywhere, we have the Aare and Rhine nearby.”
Martin Benz, the mayor of Hohentengen, therefore calls for clarification “why a postponed location suddenly becomes the preferred location”. According to Benz, the train station, which could be used to transport the radioactive material to and from it, is “a few hundred meters from our residential areas”. The mayor now wants to know whether there are accident scenarios and how one is prepared for them.
9300 cubic meters of high-level radioactive waste
As reported by the Swiss nuclear authority Nagra, the high-level radioactive waste to be stored near the border with Germany totals 9,300 cubic meters. That corresponds to the volume of about eight single-family houses. In addition, there is around 72,000 cubic meters of low-level and medium-level radioactive waste.
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So far it is still unclear how the material is to be transported to the repository. It is also unclear where the material is to be packed for disposal. This requires a “hot cell”, a high-security building. It could be created at the interim storage facility for nuclear waste in Würenlingen, around 15 kilometers south of the German municipality of Waldshut-Tiengen.
According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the “Swiss Deep Repository Expert Group” (ESchT) is now to prepare an assessment and evaluate the plans on behalf of the ministry. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) set up the ESchT back in 2006 to provide technical support for the Swiss search for a repository.
In Germany, the decision on a repository site for highly radioactive nuclear waste will be made in 2031 at the earliest. The fuel elements currently end up in interim storage facilities, which are usually located at the sites of the nuclear power plants.
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