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Gundremmingen nuclear power plant
Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / MiS
The Homo sapiens moved to Europe around 50,000 years ago.
Stone tools, skulls and bones are a reminder of this.
In 50,000 years, a different civilization will exist than we know it today.
But one thing will continue to remind us of our generation: a few thousand tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste.
That is why we need a repository for our highly radioactive nuclear waste that offers the best possible safety.
To the authors, arrow to the right
Svenja Schulze,
born in 1968, is Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Ursula Heinen-Esser
, born in 1965, is Minister for the Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Olaf Lies,
born in 1967, is Minister for Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection for the State of Lower Saxony.
Franz Untersteller
, born in 1957, is Minister for the Environment, Climate Protection and Energy for the State of Baden-Württemberg.
The final disposal of nuclear waste is a highly explosive topic.
Images of blockades, of water cannons, of highly emotional public events come to mind.
We are very aware of this highly explosive social significance.
That is why we have chosen a very special way of solving the nuclear waste problem in Germany.
After decades of constant political and social dispute, we reached a comprehensive consensus to reset the search for a repository to zero and start over with a "white map".
It was not easy to agree on this procedure.
It was only made possible by the political decision to finally phase out nuclear power in Germany.
What makes the repository search process so special?
It is strictly science-based and security-oriented
.
The only decisive factor for the question of whether an area is suitable as a repository or not is scientific knowledge.
In particular, geological data on the nature of the rock, on volcanic or seismic activities or other potential disruptive factors.
Basically, deep geological disposal is the safest of all variants - political considerations play no role, nor do federal state boundaries.
It's transparent
.
The selection criteria are clearly defined, the methods are further developed in a participatory process, all essential documents are put online, all important intermediate steps - like the first sub-regional report - are publicly consulted.
When searching for a repository, "the books" are revealed long before decisions are made.
It invites you to participate
: via specialist and regional conferences and via online consultation, where you can exert influence at an early stage.
Important social actors were involved in the restart through the repository commission.
And with the National Advisory Committee, there is an independent body between the state actors and civil society that accompanies the process over the long term - critically and mediating.
It is based on decisions made democratically
.
16 federal states and the federal government jointly gave the impetus.
The members of the Bundestag are regularly involved in the process.
It is you who ultimately make the decision.
The process is also based on a broad social consensus, across party lines.
We are confident that with this procedure we will find a location that offers the best possible security - not just for the next 50,000, but for a million years and beyond.
The process also offers the chance to permanently pacify a social conflict.
In the past three years we have come a big step closer to a solution - after decades of disputes and stagnation.
The "White Map" is colored for the first time by the sub-area report of the Federal Association for Final Storage (BGE), which will be published on September 28th.
Areas are identified that, from the BGE's point of view, could possibly be considered for a repository.
For none of the areas is sufficient information available to make a final assessment of the suitability.
In the further procedure, the BGE will therefore develop proposals for areas that are to be examined more closely above ground.
In doing so, it will take into account the results of the specialist conference sub-areas - a format for public participation that will begin shortly.
In a third step, selected areas will also be examined underground.
This creates a basis for making a fact-based determination of a repository location in 2031.
The fact that we need a repository in Germany is not good news, but it is the only sensible solution.
Because what would the alternative be?
To move the problem away and export our nuclear waste abroad?
No.
The search for a repository is a challenge that has not yet been satisfactorily solved anywhere.
Germany is already further ahead than most other countries.
To continue using the interim storage facility until, hopefully in a few decades, someone has a brilliant idea?
That would be dishonest towards those who live near the interim storage facility and it would also not be a permanently safe solution.
In addition, a repository has to be built in such a way that the nuclear waste can be removed again in hundreds of years.
So if at some point a better solution should really be found, it could still be implemented.
To continue hoarding the nuclear waste and reusing it?
This is a dream that believes in technology, with which some are trying to make nuclear power socially acceptable again in Germany.
And with it, to cancel the hard-won social consensus to phase out nuclear power.
The fact is: Even after decades of global research, nuclear waste cannot simply be magically removed or conveniently rendered harmless.
more on the subject
Icon: Spiegel Plus Possible regions for nuclear waste disposal: Where is the next Gorleben threatened? By Philipp Seibt
Shining legacy: what, how much and where with it - the German nuclear waste balance by Philipp Seibt
Announcement of repository regions: Radiant prospects by Philipp Seibt
The last nuclear power plant will go offline at the end of 2022, and the generation of nuclear power in Germany will be history.
And that's good.
Now it's a matter of making further progress on the path we have found together.
To take responsibility for the consequences of nuclear power together.
Homo sapiens, which means translated: the reasonable person: He has a concept of the future and takes responsibility for his actions.
That is what the careful and transparent search for a safe repository is all about.
We owe it to future generations.
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