Germany Cuts High-Level Waste Repository Search Area to Under 5% of Land Surface
Search Scope Significantly Reduced
The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal, known by its German acronym BGE, announced that its ongoing preliminary safety analyses have cut the territory still under investigation from approximately 25% of Germany's land area to below 5%. The organisation attributed the reduction to a step-by-step scientific assessment process that evaluates sub-areas against geoscientific weighing criteria defined in national legislation.
BGE Chair Iris Graffunder described the progress as keeping the repository search on schedule. "In the space of a year, our scientists have reduced the area that is still to be investigated — which accounted for around a quarter of the country's total land area — to less than 5%," she said, adding that the search is becoming progressively more specific.
Methodology and Current Status
The current phase of work draws on 90 sub-areas covering 54% of Germany's surface that BGE identified in September 2020 as potentially geologically suitable. From that starting point, the organisation applies four sequential assessment steps under what it terms "representative preliminary safety analyses." As of the latest update, 36 sub-areas remain under active investigation.
Areas still in contention span several regions: southern Germany, eastern Germany, and the north and north-west of the country. A former salt mine at Gorleben, once considered a leading candidate, was excluded from the process at the outset of the current search framework.
What the Repository Would Hold
The eventual facility is intended to permanently store approximately 1,900 waste containers. Although these represent only 5% of Germany's total volume of nuclear waste by quantity, they account for 99% of the country's total radioactivity from nuclear waste, underscoring the critical safety requirements attached to the site selection process.
Key Milestones and Timeline
BGE intends to submit a proposal of between five and ten candidate sites for surface exploration to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management before the end of 2027. The organisation stated that further narrowing of the candidate areas will continue through that deadline.
- Proposal of 5–10 sites for surface exploration to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management: by end of 2027
- Final site selection decision: 2031
- Target date for repository to begin operations: 2050
Regulatory and Public Participation Framework
The search is governed by legislation requiring both the highest achievable safety standards and full public participation, particularly in regions where candidate sites are located. BGE noted that its latest publication is intended to ensure early-stage transparency for communities across Germany. The company expressed confidence that the ongoing procedure will identify a suitable permanent disposal location for the country's high-level radioactive waste.
