Storing high-level radioactive waste
High-level radioactive waste is stored in special containers and placed at interim storage facilities until Germany has a repository site.
Storage sites
There are 16 storage sites for high-level radioactive waste in Germany in all. Apart from the three central stores at Ahaus, Gorleben and Lubmin, the interim storage facilities are located directly next to the sites of nuclear power stations, some of which are still generating electricity (cf. the map on storage). Storing the waste very close to the nuclear power stations has a huge advantage: the highly radioactive substances do not have to be taken to a central site across Germany by means of costly shipments.
Enough spaces at the storage sites
Less waste has been created by abandoning nuclear power generation than was originally planned. This means that the intended spaces at the storage sites have not been fully occupied. In addition to the waste generated at the nuclear power stations so far, however, containers from Great Britain and France are still being returned to Germany. They contain the waste that was created through reprocessing German fuel elements at Sellafield and La Hague.
Storage sites subject to supervision under the Atomic Energy Act
If nuclear fuel is stored outside a power station, a licence from BASE is necessary. BASE uses an extensive licensing procedure to examine whether the operators of the storage facilities meet the high standards for safe storage. Only then will BASE issue the licence required for this.
The relevant nuclear supervisory body in the federal state, in which the store is located, checks whether these requirements are being met during ongoing operations. Another task for BASE involves checking and approving major changes, which concern safety measures for the facilities or putting into storage different containers to those already licenced, for example.
Storage sites as an interim solution
The storage sites, however, cannot guarantee the same permanent protection as a repository site in stable layers of rock deep below the earth’s surface. This is why storage sites are only an interim solution. As soon as a repository site is operating, the containers will be transported there.