BASE is using this webpage to provide a brief summary of the procedure and outline the most important stakeholders and cross-border involvement opportunities for representatives from Germany's neighbouring countries.
The search for a repository for high-level radioactive waste in Germany began in 2017, when the extended Site Selection Act came into force. On 28 September 2020, the procedure reached a first milestone: the company in charge of the search, the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) mbH, published an initial status report on its work, the so-called interim report on sub-areas. The content of the report was discussed by the public in three consultation meetings at the sub-areas conference, and the results were presented to BGE (mbH). The latter is obliged to consider the consultation results in its further work.
The procedure
The site selection procedure starts with a “white map”. This means that all the German federal states and regions are included in the search. Sites are excluded, assessed and compared until the site with the best possible safety for a repository for the high-level radioactive waste remains at the end.
The road to the final repository in 3 steps.
Phase 1
During the first phase, BGE mbH will gather available geological data from all over Germany is assessing this according to criteria laid down by law. They include exclusion criteria like the risk of seismic or volcanic activity or damage to the bedrock caused by mining. Special minimum requirements also apply: for example, 300 metres of rock should separate the disposal site from the earth’s surface and it must be surrounded by a sufficiently strong layer of crystalline rock, (e.g. granite), salt or clay.
At the end of the first phase, BGE mbH will send a suggestion to BASE regarding site regions needing to be explored above ground. BASE will examine the suggestion and forward its recommendation to the German government. The elected representatives in the German parliament will then decide which regions should be explored.
Phase 2
During the second phase, BGE mbH will explore the bedrock through exploratory drilling and seismic measurements. As a result, BGE mbH will obtain a precise picture of the geology. It will suggest sites for underground exploration. BASE will also examine this suggestion, but parliament will make the final decision.
Phase 3
In the third phase, there will be an underground exploration of at least two sites. Based on a comparative assessment of the explored sites, BGE mbH will submit a site suggestion. BASE shall evaluate the results of the investigations and the participation procedure, and recommend the repository site with the best possible safety. In the end, the Bundestag shall finalise the site decision by law.
The German parliament debates and decides at the end of each phase how to proceed with the search for a disposal site. It makes its final decision about the disposal site on the basis of technical recommendations.
BMUV
The Federal Ministry for the Environment
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUV) bears the political responsibility. It is the technical and legal supervisory body for the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) and the sole shareholder of the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE).
BASE
The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management
The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) is the control and supervisory body in the search for a disposal site, i.e. it ensures that the search procedure proceeds in the way stipulated by the law. It assesses the suggestions and exploration results provided by BGE and organises public participation.
BGE mbH
The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal
The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE mbH) is responsible for specifically implementing the site selection procedure. The company has requested the necessary geological data and information from the responsible authorities all over Germany and is assessing this according to criteria and requirements laid down in law.
The National Citizens’ Oversight Committee
The National Citizens’ Oversight Committee
The National Citizens’ Oversight Committee (NBG) has the task of accompanying the site selection procedure for high-level radioactive waste in an independent, transparent and comprehensible manner. It mediates between those involved in the search and the general public. The NBG is composed of well-known personalities from public life and members of the public, who have been asked at random and then selected from this group.
Public participation
Involving the general public is a major prerequisite for making the search for a disposal site comprehensible and transparent. Parliament has therefore established far-reaching opportunities for participation and BASE is responsible for implementing them. For example, the Site Selection Act stipulates various committees and formats during the complete procedure so that the general public can be continually involved in the search for a disposal site. There is no comparable infrastructure project in Germany that envisages this kind of extensive public participation.
The Sub-areas Conference
Members of the public discussed the interim report with the responsible company (BGE mbH), asked critical questions and made statements here. The results of the discussions at the conference were recorded in a report. BGE mbH must take the results into consideration in its ongoing work.
They are the most important participation forum in the search for a disposal site; they represent the interests of the region in question and offer far-reaching scope to shape the site selection procedure.
A mediating body, which consists of members of the regional conferences and representatives of those local communities in Germany where storage facilities for high-level radioactive waste already exist.
Comments procedures and public hearings take place at the end of each phase of the procedure. Any person involved can lodge objections.
Judicial reviews
Those affected can ask the Federal Administrative Court to review the selection procedure at the end of the second and third phases of the search.
Participation opportunities for neighbouring countries
The site selection procedure envisages participation opportunities for neighbouring countries, too. They particularly start when regional conferences are set up at the end of phase one. The regional conferences are the most important participation forum during the site selection procedure.
Regional conferences
Composition and tasks
BASE will organise regional conferences in each of the site regions suggested for above-ground exploration. They will consist of a plenary session and a group of representatives. The latter will be elected by the plenary session and will consist of members of the general public, representatives of local regional authorities (e.g. municipalities) and social groups (e.g. environmental associations), each providing one third of the members. The regional conferences will accompany the site selection procedure, can request scientific advice, provide opportunities to make comments and inform the regional public. If the regional conferences cast any doubts on BGE’s exploratory results, they may demand a review. Once a region has been withdrawn from the selection procedure, the associated regional conference will be disbanded.
If a site region borders on another country, the interests of the general public there must be considered to an equal degree. In these cases, the rules of procedure for the relevant regional conferences will determine how the neighbouring country should be involved. This includes the possibility of appointing representatives from the neighbouring country to the group of representatives for the regional conference. They may be representatives of state institutions, members of the public or members of social organisations.
Video
What are the regional conferences and what role do they play in the repository search procedure? This is explained in the following short video.
Representatives from Germany's neighbouring countries will also have the opportunity of becoming involved in the comments procedures, which will at least be available regarding the suggestion for the site regions needing to be explored above ground at the end of phase one, the suggestion for sites needing to be explored underground at the end of phase two and the suggestion for the disposal site.
The current state of the procedure
The publication of the interim report and its discussion at the expert conference on sub-areas represented a first step within Phase 1. Based on the results of this discussion, and after applying further criteria, BGE mbH will narrow down the identified sub-areas in the course of phase 1, and propose regions for further investigation.
Preliminary safety investigations
Preliminary safety investigations
In the next step, BGE mbH will conduct representative preliminary safety investigations for all sub-areas named in the interim report. In phase 1 of the procedure, these investigations will be based on existing geodata. Based on the geodata from four sub-areas with different host rock types, BGE mbH is currently developing methods for the preliminary representative safety investigations.
For the period until the beginning of the regional conferences, representatives of civil society, together with the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), have launched a new concept for participation.
The concept provides for two closely connected participation formats up to the start of the regional conferences: The Repository Search Forum and the Repository Search Forum Planning Team. The two participation tools complement each other, and are intended to enable comprehensive monitoring of the work progress of BGE mbH, and ensure transparent public communication.
The Repository Search Forum
The Repository Search Forum will meet once or twice a year to discuss the progress of BGE mbH's work. It is open to all interested parties, and is being developed as a hybrid format: Participants will meet both online and in person. The first Forum on Repository Search took place on 20/21 May 2022. The 2nd Repository Search Forum will take place on 17 and 18 November in Halle an der Saale.
The Forum Repository Search Planning Team
The Forum Repository Search Planning Team is composed of elected representatives of civil society, science, municipalities, citizens, and institutions involved in the process. The format closely follows the work of BGE mbH and prepares the Repository Search Forum.
Research project „HErüber“
Challenges and success factors in cross-border public participation in the site selection procedure (HErüber)
BASE launched the “HErüber” research project in July 2020. The aim is to work out the specific requirements and success factors for cross-border formal and informal procedures for public participation and transfer them to the specific search for a disposal site. You can find more information on the research project here.
