No centralised logistics centre for German repository
18 December 2023
Plans for a centralised low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste logistics centre at the former Würgassen nuclear power plant have been shelved by the German Federal Environment Ministry due to "too many legal and planning risks". The waste would then have been sent to the Konrad repository for disposal.
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How the Konrad repository site could appear (Image: BGE)
BGZ Gesellschaft für Zwischenstorage mbH's (BGZ's) planning for this central staging area - the logistics centre for the Konrad repository (LoK) - began in 2018. Containers with pre-packaged radioactive waste from on-site interim storage facilities will be collected in this facility and assembled in precisely fitting batches as required for onward transport to the final repository. The plan was to begin operation of the LoK at the beginning of 2027.
There is insufficient space on the Konrad site itself to build a logistics centre. Therefore, after a comprehensive search process for a suitable and feasible location, BGZ announced on 6 March 2020 that it wanted to build the LoK at the site of the decommissioned Würgassen nuclear power plant. The plant already has a direct railway connection. BGZ secured a purchase option from the Würgassen power plant operator for the required property, which expires at the end of this year. The operator has refused an extension.
"Due to too many legal and planning risks, it will probably not be possible to implement it in a timely manner and therefore not economically," the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV) announced on 12 December. "This is the result of the audits by BMUV, which would have to approve a property purchase for the LoK in the double-digit million range by the end of this year. The BMUV has therefore decided to end the project and avoid a likely bad investment of around EUR2.0 billion (USD2.2 billion).
"For the Konrad repository, this means that there will be no significant reduction in the active operating time, which was the aim of the LoK. The BGZ will now intensify its existing plans for a decentralised supply to the Konrad final repository, which it had started as a precautionary measure in parallel with the work on the LoK."
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said cancellation of the plans for LoK "creates clarity and reliability for everyone involved". She added, "After careful consideration of all the facts, a logistics centre that is completed too late would be a bad investment worth billions that should be avoided. The necessary end of the logistics centre also means that the Konrad final storage facility will now be in operation for longer."
The ministry noted that, due to the existing uncertainties, BGZ had already planned to initially supply the Konrad final repository decentrally before the LoK was put into operation. "These plans will now be intensified with the cancellation of the LoK," it said.
Thomas Lautsch, technical director of the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) - which assumed responsibility as the operator of the Asse II mine and the Konrad and Morsleben repositories from the Federal Office for Radiation Protection in April 2017 - sees the ministry's decision as a challenge for the logistics of the waste containers destined for the Konrad repository. However, he also sees this as a further incentive to complete the Konrad repository quickly so that it can then begin receiving waste.
"The Konrad final storage facility can be operated without a logistics centre," Lautsch said. "But when it comes to the delivery of waste from more than 30 interim storage facilities throughout Germany, this raises questions about transport and delivery in the correct order for storage."
The Konrad iron ore mine - in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony - closed for economic reasons in 1976 and investigations began the same year to determine whether the mine was suitable for use as a repository for LLW/ILW. In 2002, the Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment issued a planning approval decision for the Konrad repository. Following multiple legal proceedings, this approval was confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court in 2007. A construction licence was issued in January 2008.
The final disposal of up to 303,000 cubic metres of LLW/ILW at Konrad is set to begin in the early 2030s. This waste represents 95% of the country's waste volume, with 1% of the radioactivity. At present, this waste is stored above-ground in interim storage facilities at more than 30 locations in Germany. Once within the Konrad repository, the containers will be immobilised with suitable concrete and securely sealed off during emplacement operations. Once operations are complete, all cavities of the mine will be backfilled and sealed in a manner that ensures long-term safety.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News