Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier: "A milestone on the path to ending the controversy over nuclear power"

At the proposal of Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier, the Federal Cabinet agreed today on a draft act on the selection of a repository for high-level radioactive waste to be adopted before the summer recess.

On this matter, Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier commented: "Today’s agreement is a milestone that will help us to overcome through concerted efforts the last major controversy linked to the use of nuclear power. After reaching an agreement on the phase-out of nuclear power by consensus, I am convinced that we will be able to conduct the process of selecting a repository site by means of public consensus as well. All parties involved have to participate in this process and do their part to make sure our children and grandchildren will not have to deal with the legacy of nuclear power. I am also optimistic that we will solve the question of where to store the next radioactive waste shipments to Germany in a spirit of consensus across party lines."

The draft act on the selection of a repository site is based on the political agreement reached by the Federal Government, Länder and parliamentary groups/political parties on 9 April. It will be simultaneously introduced in the Bundestag by the parliamentary groups.

All parties involved had agreed that the site selection procedure would be prepared by a joint Federal Government/Länder committee of 24 members representing different interests. The committee will have until the end of 2015 to work on proposals in relation to issues such as safety requirements and geological selection criteria. Decisions on the individual phases of the selection procedure will be taken by the Bundestag via the adoption of corresponding legislation and include, in the final stage of the procedure, decisions on locations for surface and underground exploration. Judicial protection will be granted for the selection of sites for underground exploration.

There is consensus that shipments of nuclear waste (so-called CASTOR transports) to Gorleben should end. Parties involved had agreed to discuss, in the coming weeks, the conditions under which radioactive waste stored outside the country could be transferred to other interim storage sites. A maximum of 21 CASTOR flasks from Sellafield and five from La Hague will be shipped to Germany.

Everybody also agrees not to export high-level radioactive waste for the purpose of final disposal. The principle of domestic disposal remains unaffected.

Main content of draft act:

1. Fundamental principles

   • Search for a solution to the problem of safe long-term disposal of high-level radioactive waste by means of national consensus,
   • solving of the problem within a single generation,
   • domestic disposal of waste generated in Germany in accordance with the principle of national responsibility,
   • site selection based on the highest safety standards and sound science,
   • transparency and public participation in all phases of the procedure as a prerequisite for reaching a decision based on broad consensus,
   • fundamental decisions to be taken by Bundestag and Bundesrat.

2. Key provisions

   • New site selection procedure starting with a blank map of Germany without any site proposals,
   • no premature decisions by excluding individual sites (e. g. Gorleben),
   • site selection to be carried out in a democratically legitimized, transparent step-by-step procedure on the basis of scientific criteria.

3. Phases of the procedure

   • Evaluation phase for the review of legal provisions and the definition of basic criteria,
   • identification of suitable regions, surface and underground exploration, site comparisons and proposals, selected site to be written into federal legislation,
   • planning approval procedure for the safety assessment of the selected site,
   • if possible, construction of the repository after judicial review of the planning approval procedure.

4. Participants in the procedure

   • Joint Federal Government/Länder committee (24 members),
   • project developer (BfS),
   • regulatory authority (to be newly established),
   • supervisory committee representing civil society.