The Federal Government, Länder and political parties today agreed to submit to the Bundestag, as soon as possible, a draft act on the selection of a repository site 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 breakthrough that will help us find a solution to the problem of selecting a repository site by means of public consensus, the same method we used to decide on the phase-out of nuclear energy. We will now be able to end the decade-old conflict over the location of a nuclear repository. An agreement across party lines and regional borders was made possible by the responsibility shown by all parties involved and their willingness to compromise in a spirit of consensus. The agreement also shows that once trust has been established, political players are willing to take action and can find solutions to difficult issues."
The site selection procedure will 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 exclusion and selection criteria for each type of geology. 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.
Participants agreed to end shipments of nuclear waste (so-called CASTOR transports) to Gorleben. In the coming weeks, it will be necessary to discuss the conditions under which radioactive waste stored outside the country can be transferred to other interim storage sites. Operators will also be included in these discussions. Underground exploration will not be continued in Gorleben and no research lab will be built on this site.
Participants also agreed 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.