Minister urges swift recovery of radioactive waste at Asse nuclear repository
For some months now, the seeping water in Asse II has been taking new, unknown paths. This is why the nuclear waste must be retrieved quickly, says Lemke.
Nuclear waste drums in the Asse mine
(Image: BGE)
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) is committed to recovering the radioactive waste stored in the dilapidated Asse nuclear waste repository near Wolfenbüttel as quickly as possible. In an interview with NDR Info, she said that she had spoken to the managing director of the Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE) about speeding up the recovery process. This is currently being investigated and examined by technicians.
(Image: BGE)
Since the beginning of this year, the saltwater that has been seeping into the Asse II nuclear waste repository for a long time has been taking new paths. The reasons for the change in saltwater inflow are still unclear to the BGE. It is working intensively to determine the causes, it said at the end of May. Lemke now said that she understood the concerns of the population. The potential dangers had been played down.
"Retrieval feasible, but difficult"
The retrieval is feasible, but represents an enormous challenge; such a process has never been carried out anywhere in the world, said Lemke. It had never been planned that the waste would be retrieved from the Asse mine, Lemke said on Wednesday shortly before a visit to the nuclear waste storage facility, and the waste had been taken there accordingly.
Around 126,000 barrels of low and medium-level radioactive waste are stored in 13 chambers in the mine, where they were stored from 1967 to 1978. Because water is seeping in, the storage facility is to be cleared. According to BGE, around 12 m³ of water seeped in every day for a long time. For some months now, the volume at the main collection point has been decreasing and is now 1.15 m³, explained Lemke. Increased inflow is being measured at a lower measuring point, but there is a difference, some water is flowing somewhere else.
(Image: BMU)
According to current plans, the thousands of nuclear waste casks are to be retrieved from 2033. The preparatory work alone is expected to cost 4.7 billion euros. For example, the site is to be extended to include a building complex with a waste treatment plant and interim storage facility.
(anw)
