Implications of the requirements of strategic impact assessment on the site selection of a repository

According to the Act on the Peaceful Utilisation of Nuclear Energy and Protection against its Dangers (Atomic Energy Act), the federal government must set up facilities for the final disposal of radioactive waste. When planning such facilities, the relevant national and European laws and directives must be observed. The 2001 Directive on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment introduced an obligation to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for certain plans and programmes throughout Europe.

The assessment of alternatives is an important element of the Strategic Environmental Assessment. It is undisputed that the obligation to assess alternatives in the SEA goes well beyond the requirements of the EIA. The SEA Directive has essentially been transposed into German law by amending the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG) and the Spatial Planning Act (ROG). Insofar as the level of spatial planning law is decisive for the legal anchoring of a siting decision under current law, the SEA to be carried out for the preparation and amendment of state spatial plans also includes the repository site. The introduction of the SEA therefore affects the legal requirements for the procedure for determining a repository for high-level radioactive waste. The project analyses the extent to which requirements for the assessment of alternative sites can be derived from this.