- Lower Saxony expresses discontent over Bavaria's nuclear waste storage proposal
A Bavarian administrative official has stirred up perplexity in Lower Saxony with his proposal to merge all 16 interim nuclear waste storage sites at the location of Gorleben. "The request from Bavaria is unprecedented in its audacity and shamelessness," remarked Lower Saxony's Minister for the Environment, Christian Meyer.
"It's hypocritical and reckless," he added, "to exempt Bavaria as a final nuclear waste dump while proposing to construct new nuclear power plants and anticipating to transfer all of Bavaria's nuclear waste to Lower Saxony. Clearly, Lower Saxony is not on board with this." It's inappropriate for Bavaria to evade its obligations towards existing nuclear waste.
The district of Landshut also houses an intermediate storage facility.
The district administrator of Landshut, Peter Dreier, affiliated with the Free Voters, expressed earlier in the week his support for the nationwide consolidation of the 16 interim storage facilities at the Lower Saxony Gorleben site. This is bolstered by an existing repair facility for damaged containers at the site.
Furthermore, a single location would be simpler to supervise. "Given the numerous crisis spots worldwide, we can't put any more strain on the already stretched capacities of the Bundeswehr and potentially jeopardize public safety," said Dreier.
In the district of Landshut, the Isar Intermediate Storage Facility for Spent Fuel Elements resides in the municipality of Niederaichbach.
According to a study conducted by the Freiburg Eco-Institute, the search for a final repository for highly radioactive waste may stretch on for decades longer than initially anticipated. Under ideal circumstances, a decision on the location wouldn't be expected before 2074 at the earliest. The study was ordered by the Federal Office for Nuclear Waste Disposal (BASE).
The Federal Ministry for the Environment estimates that a final repository will be found by 2050. The original due date was 2031.
"Despite the proposed consolidation of all 16 interim nuclear waste storage sites at Gorleben, it's important to note that the district of Landshut also has its own intermediate storage facility."
"This contradicts Lower Saxony's Minister for the Environment's sentiment, as Landshut's district administrator, Peter Dreier, has expressed support for the nationwide consolidation, with Landshut potentially hosting the consolidated facilities."
