Extended interim storage – the technical, organisational and social dimensions
The operation of nuclear power plants produces high-level radioactive waste, such as spent fuel elements and vitrified fission products from reprocessing, as well as operational waste with a lower level of radioactivity. In Germany, all these forms of waste will ultimately be disposed of in deep geological formations. As yet, no site has been selected for a repository for high-level radioactive waste; for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, a repository is now being built at Schacht Konrad (Konrad pit). However, until a repository is available for particularly hazardous waste, these highly radioactive substances must be stored safely. At present, most of this waste is kept in on-site interim storage facilities at the German nuclear power plants or in central interim storage facilities.
There is a problem, however: in Germany, the licences for interim storage facilities for high-level radioactive waste are time-limited to 40 years. This was mainly motivated by political factors: it was intended to assuage local concerns that the facilities might quietly be reclassed as final repositories, without proper scrutiny. As a consequence, a 40-year time limit was applied to all the studies and tests required for the granting of licences. The existing licences for the interim storage facilities therefore expire between 2034 and 2046/47.
According to even the most optimistic estimates, it is likely to take until at least 2050 for a repository site to be selected in Germany and for the facility itself to come into operation. The German Nuclear Waste Management Commission (ESK), which advises the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) on matters of nuclear waste management, refers in a discussion paper to interim storage periods of between 65 and 100 years. The extension of interim storage now presents policy-makers and society with various challenges: technical, organisational and social.