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Controversial nuclear waste repository can continue to be built

The controversial nuclear waste repository Schacht Konrad in Salzgitter can continue to be built for the time being. The applications to withdraw or revoke the plans and the demand to stop further construction work have been rejected for the time being. This was announced by the Lower Saxony...

Graffiti with the words "Your children will hold you accountable" on a barn in the Schacht Konrad....aussiedlerbote.de
Graffiti with the words "Your children will hold you accountable" on a barn in the Schacht Konrad district. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Shaft Konrad - Controversial nuclear waste repository can continue to be built

The controversial nuclear waste repository Schacht Konrad in Salzgitter can continue to be built for the time being. The applications to withdraw or revoke the plans and the demand to stop further construction work have been rejected for the time being. This was announced by the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment in Hanover on Tuesday. It was the result of a purely legal examination, said Minister Christian Meyer. "This does not change our critical stance on the repository," said the Green politician.

An alliance had filed an application in 2021 to revoke or withdraw the planning approval decision. The critics complained that the planned repository did not meet current scientific and technical requirements. Important aspects such as retrievability and long-term safety had not been taken into account or had not been considered at all. Critics include the nature conservation organizations Nabu and BUND, the city of Salzgitter, the IG Metall trade union and the state farmers' association Landvolk.

Schacht Konrad is a disused iron ore mine in which up to 303,000 cubic meters of low and medium-level radioactive waste is to be stored. It is the first final repository for this waste to be approved under nuclear law in Germany.

State Environment Minister Meyer pointed out that a further repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste is needed, particularly in view of the retrieval of waste from the Asse nuclear waste repository, which is full of water, and in view of waste from the dismantling of nuclear power plants.

Following the provisional decision, the applicants can now submit a statement within an eight-week hearing period, according to the ministry. The decision opens up the legal process. The alliance of critics expressed their disappointment and announced that they would examine further legal steps.

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Source: www.stern.de

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