Germany struggles to bury the remains of its nuclear past
Author: Meryl McBroom, Communications & Writing Coordinator
In March of 2011, an earthquake and tsunami event off the coast of Japan triggered a massive nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. In the days following the very public nuclear catastrophe, German chancellor Angela Merkel made the decision to decommission all existing nuclear power plants in Germany by the year 2022. Germany’s nuclear phase-out has largely been met with approval, both domestically and abroad, but in the midst of the country’s energy transition a burning question remains — what should be done with the nuclear waste?
Protesters with signs reading “Atomkraft? Nein danke” or, “Nuclear power? No thanks”
The search for a permanent nuclear waste storage site is not a new endeavor. In 1977, German state officials announced plans to repurpose an old salt mine in the small town of Gorleben as the first official permanent waste storage facility. This decision was highly contested by local citizens and environmental groups, claiming the salt content in the earth would create unstable conditions for the radioactive waste and could potentially lead to dangerous leaks. Staged protests in Gorleben lasted for decades and underscored an important argument in the anti-nuclear discourse which would ultimately give birth to Germany’s Green Party.
From the first operational nuclear plant in 1961 until today, Germany has accumulated an estimated 27,000 cubic meters (1,900 large containers) of highly radioactive nuclear waste. Following Chancellor Merkel’s departure from nuclear energy, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservancy, and Nuclear Safety has promised to find a permanent storage site capable of securely holding this waste for one million years. The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) has recently released plans to consider 90 potential storage sites throughout the country in order to begin construction by 2031, with the goal of having a fully operational nuclear waste storage site by 2050. Although the process of site selection has been designed to consider all potential storage sites on a purely geological basis, certain regional governments have pushed back. The Bavarian environmental minister recently made claims that the Bavaria region was unsuitable for atomic waste storage, dismissing the Federal Company’s findings stating otherwise.
Understandably, the process of finding a permanent nuclear waste storage site is sure to be arduous and not without conflict. While BGE has planned for extensive stakeholder participation and citizen engagement procedures, some worry that the organization is simply following protocol while quietly carrying out its own agenda. Others predict that the process will take much longer than expected. Many fear that the same “NIMBY” (not-in-my-backyard) ideology which has slowed down wind turbine construction in Germany will bring nuclear waste storage to a standstill.
The Philippsburg nuclear power plant in Germany, now decommissioned.
Photo by Lothar Neumann, Gernsbach is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5
Germany is just one of many countries currently struggling to manage its nuclear waste. Since the start of large-scale nuclear energy application nearly 70 years ago, Finland has been the only country to successfully secure a permanent waste storage site. While nuclear energy production continues to be at the forefront of the global clean energy debate, nuclear waste and the myriad of issues associated with it cannot be ignored. As we delve into the future, countries reliant on nuclear energy or planning to expand production must factor in atomic waste issues and face up to the facts — nuclear power is a messy business.
Additional reading:
https://www.dw.com/en/nuclear-power-in-germany-a-chronology/a-2306337
https://www.dw.com/en/the-germans-fighting-wind-farms-close-to-their-homes/a-51417653