Switzerland is planning a nuclear waste repository right on the border with Baden-Württemberg, not far from Lake Constance. There is a heated debate at a public meeting.
Munich/Zurich/Constance – The clay layer is said to be 175 million years old. And the nuclear waste repository will in future be just a few kilometers north of Zurich from the German border. There was another public meeting on the controversial Swiss project, which wants to store the nuclear waste not far from Waldshut-Tiengen, Konstanz and Lake Constance.
Nuclear waste repository “Nördlich Lägern”: Plans cause trouble between Switzerland and Germany
And on this side, too, this time on the Swiss side, there was a heated debate. The reports that Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). According to this, more than 500 mainly Swiss citizens came to the municipality of Stadel in the canton of Zurich to discuss with the Swiss Minister of Energy and the Environment, Simonetta Sommaruga.
From the middle of the century, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, industry and research is to be stored hundreds of meters underground. Namely, on several square kilometers in the “Nördlich Lägern” area near Eglisau on the High Rhine. The construction of the camp still has to go through the approval process and is unlikely to begin until 2031 at the earliest, with storage in 2050. When the plans became public in mid-September, there was a lot of criticism from German cities and municipalities.
In the video: Switzerland – New nuclear waste repository near the German border?
“We have the impression that something has been steered here,” said a retired computer scientist from the “Nördlich Lägern ohne Tiefenlager” (LoTi) association FAZ. However, the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) considers this location to be the best to bury the spent fuel rods of five Swiss nuclear power plants right here at a depth of 800 meters.
The citizens around Eglisau now want to know from their government how they will be compensated for the imminent loss of value of their real estate. What is also polarizing: Nagra had described “Nördlich Lägern” as unsuitable back in 2015.
Nuclear waste repository on the German border: not far from Constance and Lake Constance
Nagra boss Matthias Braun reassured at the citizens’ meeting: The Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) had asked his authority to get a more precise picture by means of deep drilling. “We found out that the rock is twice as strong as originally thought,” explained Braun.
We are convinced that we have found the absolute safest location.
There have also been town meetings and information events on the other side of the border in recent months. For example, Lo Ti Ko President Rosi Drayer criticized in mid-September: “I think people are waking up here now. Here is a nuclear waste disposal site under their floor, which shakes them awake.” Martin Benz (CDU), Mayor of Hohentengen on the other side of the Rhine, said at the time: “The decision itself does not surprise us, but we are very surprised. What happens in an accident scenario?” Questions such as groundwater protection and radiological effects also need to be clarified.
Nuclear waste repository on the German border: Swiss authorities appeased
Maurus Alig, member of the management board of the Swiss National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra), recently confirmed: “We are convinced that we have found the absolutely safest location.” Do the citizens on both sides of the Rhine also see it that way? (pm)
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