Permanent disposal of radioactive waste

There is no alternative to the permanent disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological formations that is safe and ethical in the long term. Today there is a consensus on this in research and wide sections of the public. Irrespective of the ultimate quantity of waste, permanent disposal is necessary in order to keep existing radioactive waste safely away from the biosphere in the long term.

In spite of research spanning decades and many repository procedures, there has been no repository for highly radioactive waste established in the world. A key reason for this is the lack of acceptance amongst the public.

Examples in other countries – like the site selection for repositories of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste at Wellenberg in Switzerland and Sellafield in the UK – show that repository projects can fail due to resistance from local population.

Making the storage of radioactive waste safe and transparent

The early incorporation of the public and a transparent, stepwise approach are therefore key features of a consensus-orientated procedure, as recommended, for example, by the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) of OECD/ NEA.

Research conducted by Oeko-Institut has found that the site selection phase in particular represents a critical decision point in terms of the success or failure of nuclear repository projects. An open-ended approach to site selection based on pre-defined safety requirements is needed.

In order to ensure a targeted approach, questions of how the procedure should be designed, and the participation of the public in the considerations – such as how the search for nuclear repository sites in Germany is to be conducted in the future – have to be incorporated.

Accompanying process for decommissioning the Asse-II repository

Asse-II is a former salt mine located in Lower Saxony, Germany, which has been used as a nuclear repository since the late 1960s. In 2008 an accompanying process was initiated in which local representatives from politics, administration, citizens' initiatives, and environmental and conservation organisations extensively participated. The task of the Asse-II monitoring group is to critically monitor the decommissioning process of the Asse-II mine and to keep the public informed.

Representatives of relevant authorities on national and federal state level and representatives of the operators participate as observers in the meetings of the monitoring group. In this way it is ensured that they work closely together.

The objectives of the Asse-II monitoring group are, amongst other things, to bring the discussion on to a more objective level, to bundle regional interests and to create transparency. The Comparison of Options working group (Arbeitsgruppe Optionenvergleich, AGO) advises and supports the monitoring group.

Comparison of Options working group

This working group is a body made up of independent experts commissioned by the monitoring group and experts from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; it provides specialist assistance to the work of operators. Since the accompanying process was initiated, some key demands of the monitoring group have already been implemented:

• The procedure was transferred from mining law to nuclear legislation and a greater involvement of the public was made mandatory.
  
• In the light of the new operators, responsibility was transferred to the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection.
  
• The flooding plan of the previous operator, Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU), was stopped and it was decided that all radioactive waste would be retrieved as one of the priority decommissioning options. 

Oeko-Institut took part in planning the accompanying process as experts on participation procedures. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the institute is observing and evaluating the process as well as providing advice on its improvement potential. Furthermore recommendations are derived for future participation procedures relating to nuclear repositories in Germany.

Acceptance is necessary for permanent disposal

Oeko-Institut is involved in many projects concentrating on acceptance issues and participation procedures in repository projects or other large and complex non-nuclear projects. Although each procedure has specific boundary conditions, researchers at Oeko-Institut were nevertheless able to derive information on favourable and obstructive factors. These encompass:

• the responsibility and roles of key actors,
  
• financing,
  
• the development of basic realisation concepts and safety requirements,
  
• a transparent procedure for site selection, and
  
• public relations.
  

The process of decommissioning of the Asse II mine is not directly comparable to the search for a new repository site, yet some of above-mentioned aspects are nevertheless significant. The dynamics of the decommissioning process requires continual observation and analysis of proceedings.