The Forum Endlagersuche is the key forum for discussions regarding the selection of a repository site for high-level radioactive waste. On 17/18 November 2023, the second Forum Endlagersuche will be held in the city of Halle an der Saale. Registration to attend the conference at the Leopoldina in Halle in person is open until 13 November. Registration to attend digitally (online via the video conferencing system Zoom) is open until 15 November. Digital events addressing individual topics will continue to be held until 14 November 2023 as part of the “forum days” in addition to an introductory event on the site selection procedure on Monday, 13 November 2023.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) will open the Forum Endlagersuche on 17 November. On 18 November, the working sessions will be opened by the environment minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Professor Armin Willingmann (SPD).
What will be discussed in Halle?
There are two key topics on the agenda in Halle: on the first day, discussions will centre around the fact that even the process of identifying a location for a repository for high-level radioactive waste could turn into an intergenerational project and what implications this has for interim storage and participation in the repository site search. However, the first day will also be about looking for ways of making the process more efficient, for example by carrying out more work in parallel or searching for other ways of accelerating work in Phases II and III of site selection. The second focal point of discussions in Halle will be the overall approach of the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) as the process moves on from sub-areas that might, in principle, be suitable for final disposal and begins to examine siting regions. At the end of 2027, the BGE will propose a small number of siting regions in which surface exploration is worthwhile in order to check whether they are actually suitable repository sites. Lisa Seidel, Head of Site Selection at the BGE, will round off the first day by setting out the bigger picture. On the second day, the BGE’s approach will be discussed in multiple working groups.
Why is the BGE’s Forum Endlagersuche important?
Technical Managing Director of the BGE, Dr Thomas Lautsch, who will also be in Halle on 17 November, says: “For the BGE, this form of participation is a great opportunity to engage in dialogue with interested members of the public – and to incorporate key suggestions into our own work.” Lisa Seidel, who is responsible for site selection at the BGE and part of the Forum Endlagersuche planning team herself, adds: “For the BGE, the Forum Endlagersuche is a focal point for putting our methods and approaches up for public discussion. Our experts look forward to engaging in dialogue with interested members of the public.” Dagmar Dehmer, Manager of Corporate Communication at the BGE, adds: “It’s impressive to see how much passion, commitment and time has gone into preparing the forum, especially on the part of the volunteer members of the Forum Endlagersuche Planning Team. Through their critical questions and talent for taking soundings from interested members of the public, they play a key role in implementing the participation envisaged by the Repository Site Selection Act.”
The Forum Endlagersuche is designed and prepared by the Forum Endlagersuche Planning Team (PFE). The organiser is the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), which is the authority responsible for participation. In the PFE, elected representatives of civil society work with delegates from the BASE and BGE to identify key topics for the repository search. In spring, the PFE launched a call to help organise the Forum Endlagersuche and received 83 proposals – including for specific sessions. The PFE used these proposals to develop the “forum days”, which will be held from 6 November 2023, as well as the Forum Endlagersuche. The diverse contributions from the general public range from scientific posters on gas pressure in repository containers, for example, to two workshops on the learning process of the German Working Group on Repository Research (DAEF). On the first day, a large group of schoolchildren from Jena will even attend this exercise in democratic discourse and see what the repository search is about for themselves.
If you have any questions about the Forum Endlagersuche, please contact: Dagmar Dehmer, dagmar.dehmer@bge.de, phone: +49 15122101090.
About the BGE
The BGE is a federally owned company within the portfolio of the Federal Environment Ministry. On 25 April 2017, the BGE assumed responsibility from the Federal Office for Radiation Protection as the operator of the Asse II mine and the Konrad and Morsleben repositories. In addition to the decommissioning of the Gorleben mine, its other tasks include searching for a repository site for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste produced in Germany on the basis of the Repository Site Selection Act, which entered into force in May 2017. The Managing Director is Dr Thomas Lautsch.
