Concepts of Regional Development in Major Projects: National and International Comparisons – Lessons for the Site Selection Process (KoRegio)

The site selection process aims to find a repository site in Germany for high-level radioactive waste that ensures the highest possible safety for at least one million years. The Site Selection Act (StandAG) governs the procedural steps for a scientifically based, participatory, and transparent search and selection of a site.

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) oversees the site selection process and is responsible for public participation. It establishes the foundations and frameworks for how citizens can be involved in the site search as co-designers of the process through formal and informal participation procedures. The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) is responsible, under the StandAG, for searching for, constructing, and operating a repository for high-level radioactive waste.

In the site selection process, concepts for promoting regional development in potential site regions are to be developed and gradually implemented. This approach aims to balance potential burdens and foster opportunities associated with establishing a repository for high-level radioactive waste to ensure the resilience and robustness of the regions.

The site selection process occurs in three phases:

• Phase 1: Deep geological investigations and determination of sub-areas,
• Phase 2: Geoscientific safety investigations, identification of several potential site regions, establishment of regional conferences in the site regions, and above-ground investigations,
• Phase 3: Underground exploration and site decision based on the results of the participation process and safety investigations.

BASE prepares the regional conferences, which are the central instrument of regional participation in the site selection process. With the designation of the site regions, the regional conferences begin their work, including the development of regional development concepts with extensive citizen participation, which could potentially play a role in the site agreement. Additionally, BGE conducts socio-economic potential analyses (SÖPA) in the potential site regions, to which the regional conferences can respond, providing an initial framework for suitable regional concepts. The aim of these various procedural elements is to tailor regional development in the site regions based on socio-economic aspects to achieve acceptance of a potential repository site through a fair process and compensation.

To date, socio-economic analyses in major projects have lacked the inclusion of local cultural-historical specifics and needs, as macroeconomic modelling has predominantly been the focus. This often leads to a lack of local approval for the implementation of infrastructure projects.

This research project addresses this gap. It systematically analyses national and international examples of site searches and other large-scale projects with spatial significance, focusing on potential expectations and experiences with socio-economic studies and their integration into holistic concepts for promoting regional development. The findings can then be applied to the German site selection process.

Based on a literature review, several case studies, and a transdisciplinary reflection workshop, the project will explore:

• The different dimensions in which regional development can be considered,
• The methodology and indicators of regional development that should be used to ensure comparability between regions,
• The specific work steps that should be carried out before and alongside the regional conferences to meet the expected participation interest,
• The categories of different regional potentials that should be examined, and
• The data that can be collected for this purpose.

Duration 07/2024 – 03/2026 Funding Code 4724F10002 Funded by Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management