The final storage of German nuclear waste has been delayed by decades and is likely to be much more expensive than expected. It is not the power companies that have to pay for this, but the general public. That is why the participation rights of those affected must not be curtailed now.
a comment from
Joachim Wille
Nuclear power was supposed to be a technology of the century. Electricity would be so cheap that there would be no need for an electricity meter. Gigantic amounts of energy from a small amount of raw materials. Driving force for a new era of economic abundance.
It was widely introduced in this country in the 1970s, but now it is clear that nuclear energy is a technology of the century, but completely different to what was thought. last a full 100 yearsuntil a final storage site for the radioactive waste is found.
Only in 2074, such a Appraise of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (Base), the time has come – in the best case scenario. This means a new, heavy burden on the already botched disposal of the legacy of the “nuclear age” in this country.
The origin of the problem lies in the fact that the new energy technology, which at its peak provided a third of the electricity consumed in Germany, was established 60 years ago without the final storage issue having been resolved at all. It would have been impossible to be more negligent than the nuclear fans of the CDU/CSU and SPD-led governments of the time. This is still taking its toll today.
They chose the old, leaky Asse salt mine near Wolfenbüttel to store low and medium-level radioactive waste. That ended in a fiasco. The nuclear storage facility there, which was hailed as a model for final storage, is in danger of being flooded. The renovation, if possible at all, will cost taxpayers several billion.
Half a century wasted on pseudo-politics
Even more serious was the pre-determination of the Gorleben salt dome in Wendland near the German-German border for the very hot waste, although there were serious doubts about its suitability. The federal government, which wanted to blindly push through this solution, spent two billion euros here, supposedly on an “exploratory mine”, but in fact already on a final storage facility.
In doing so, he created one of the greatest social conflicts that the old Federal Republic experienced, the anti-nuclear protests around Gorleben. The fatal consequence: half a century was wasted on pseudo-politics that only pretended to “dispose of” the waste in order to be able to continue operating the nuclear power plants.
Only the decision to phase out nuclear power, made in 2011 after the Fukushima disaster, laid the foundation for a new search for a final storage facility based on scientific criteria. This was then approved by the Bundestag in 2017 with a large cross-party majority. decidedit has been running ever since.
At the time, it was calculated that a final storage site could be found by 2031. But now comes the shock. According to the Base report, it will probably take more than four decades longer because the old calculation had apparently left out important procedural steps.
This will probably have to be acknowledged as a bitter truth, even if it is of course absurd. Because it means that the Bundestag resolution of 2017 was passed in ignorance of the actual situation.
The interim storage facilities must be re-approved
The looming delay disrupts more than just the schedule – it also affects safety and money.
A solution must be found for the continued storage of the hot radioactive waste that is currently parked in halls in Gorleben and at the old nuclear power plant sites. The Castor interim storage facilities there are only for 40 years approved, and the permits expire well before 2074. Structural improvements may also be needed here, for example because of increased risks of war or terrorism.
But it is also clear that the search for a final storage facility, which has been extended by decades, requires significantly more financial resources. The process has so far been financed from a state fund, Kenfo called the “fund” into which the electricity companies paid around 24 billion euros in 2017. The sum was calculated at the time for the period up to 2031 and the subsequent construction of the final storage facility, but it is now unlikely to be sufficient. The nuclear power plant operators are in the clear. Those who have to pay the price are the future taxpayers.
The question now is: Can the Federal Republic really afford to wait until the next century for the final storage facility to be fully completed? That is how long it would actually take, starting in 2074, for the storage facility to be built and all the Castor containers to be housed.
The federal government should decide to put the entire process to the test and compare it with the approach of other countries that are more advanced in the search for a final repository, such as Switzerland.
However, any acceleration steps that may then be taken must not under any circumstances limit the participation of the citizens affected. The attempt by previous federal governments and their authorities to mislead them is what caused the whole mess. That must not happen again.
