The site in Wendland will not be a nuclear waste repository. Nevertheless, radioactive waste will still be stored here for decades. To protect against terrorist attacks, among other things, a new security center is to be built.
To protect the Gorleben nuclear waste storage facility in Lower Saxony from terrorist attacks, for example, a protective wall is being built around the hall containing highly radioactive waste. A new security center will also be built in the next three to three and a half years, as the federally owned company for interim storage (BGZ) announced in response to a dpa request. The “Elbe-Jeetzel-Zeitung” initially reported on the construction preparations.
“The protection of the interim storage facilities against terrorist attacks or criminal acts is constantly reassessed and adapted to changing threat situations,” said a BGZ spokesman. The project also included measures in the area of IT security and the conversion of the main access road.
Criticism of the planned protective wall
The Lüchow-Dannenberg environmental protection citizens’ initiative criticized the planned protective wall. The ceiling of the hall, which is only 20 centimeters thick, is the weak point, especially in the event of a plane crash, said the spokesman for the citizens’ initiative, Wolfgang Ehmke.
The operator rejected this criticism. The safety of the interim storage was also checked and confirmed by the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management as the responsible licensing authority, it said.
Nuclear waste will be stored in Gorleben for another ten years
After years of dispute over the Gorleben location, the salt dome in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district was removed from the search for a final storage facility for nuclear waste in 2020. However, it will remain a nuclear waste site for a long time: Gorleben has a storage facility for low- and medium-level radioactive waste as well as a storage facility with transport containers containing high-level radioactive waste (Castor storage facility). The permit for the Gorleben interim storage facility expires in 2034.
Extended interim storage is necessary because the Federal Agency for Final Storage does not expect to name a final storage site for highly radioactive waste until the 2040s at the earliest, said the BGZ spokesman. It will then take several decades until the final storage facility is built and all containers are delivered to it. The containers with the highly radioactive waste would be temporarily stored in Gorleben for that long.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
