Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung publishes progress of work on repository search

Where does the search for a repository in Germany stand? How is the Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE) finding the site with the best possible safety for highly radioactive waste? 

Today, on 4 November 2024, the BGE is publishing the first updates on the progress of work as part of the current process step. By doing so, the BGE is providing early information on how its methodology for the representative preliminary safety investigations (rvSU) leads to the siting regions with the best possible safety. The Chair of the BGE Management Board, Iris Graffunder, explains: “From now on, we will be publishing our preliminary work statuses annually and for public inspection. This means that the public can always see which areas we have already assessed for safety.”

It is important to note that the published work progress does not yet present binding results and may change in the course of further work by the BGE, for example as a result of new scientific findings. At the end of 2027, the BGE will propose siting regions for surface exploration. This proposal will then be reviewed by the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), The BASE will involve the scientific community and the public. The decision on the siting regions to undergo surface exploration in Phase II will ultimately be made by the federal legislator.  

Lisa Seidel, Head of Site Selection at the BGE, explains the methodology used to evaluate safety in the current process step: “We use a science-based process to find the site with the best possible safety. We therefore set the safety requirements for the sites a little higher with each test step. Sites that do not clear a hurdle are not processed any further.” This is how the BGE is gradually approaching the regions with the best possible safety.

This year, the BGE will publish areas that, based on the current work status, have already been assigned to category C or D because they have not cleared one or two hurdles. All other areas have not yet been evaluated and therefore remain in the assessment process. 

The BGE Repository Search Navigator

The work progress on the way from sub-areas to siting regions is shown in the BGE Repository Search Navigator at www.bge.de/navigator. In the interactive application, the BGE uses maps to show the status of work. Background material helps to categorize the information. Citizens can use the integrated zip code search function to obtain information on the status of the BGE's work in their area.

Work statuses for the following 13 sub-areas can be viewed via the BGE Repository Search Navigator:

TG 001_00: Opalinus Clay Formation | Claystone | Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria
TG 002_00: Older Lower Marine Molasse | Claystone | Bavaria
TG 003_00: Younger Lower Marine Molasse | Claystone | Bavaria
TG 008_01: Upper Cretaceous East | Claystone | Brandenburg and Saxony
TG 009_00: Saxothuringian | Crystalline rocks | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Saxony
TG 010_00: Central German crystalline zone | Crystalline rocks | Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg
TG 011_00: Southern phyllite zone | Crystalline rocks | Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Brandenburg
TG 013_00: Moldanubic | Crystalline rocks | Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria
TG 075_01: Glückstadt-Graben | Bedded rock salt | Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein 
TG 075_02: Westschleswig block | Bedded rock salt | Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein
TG 078_02: Thuringian Basin | Bedded rock salt | Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia
TG 078_04: Solling Basin | Bedded rock salt | Hesse, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia
TG 078_08: Rügen | Bedded rock salt | Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
 

Overall, the work statuses categorise around 18% of the sub-areas as unsuitable or less suitable

Online information event on work status and Navigator 

The BGE Repository Search Navigator will be launched on November 4 at 12 noon. The BGE will offer an introduction to the functions of the Navigator and a presentation of the areas being worked on at the online information event “Betrifft: Standortauswahl - Arbeitsstände aus den rvSU” on November 4, 2024 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (in German)

To participate via Zoom, please use the following access data
Meeting ID: 661 7170 3318 | identification code: 693119
You can find the livestream and, following the event, its recording on YouTube.

The Forum on the Search for a Final Repository (Forum Endlagersuche) on November 22/23, 2024 in Würzburg 

The BGE will be represented at the 3rd Forum on the Search for a Final Repository (Forum Endlagersuche) from November 22 to 23, 2024, in Würzburg/VCC Vogel Convention Center. The forum offers the opportunity to obtain in-depth information about the work progress in person or digitally.