Chronology of the search for a site for the storage of radioactive waste
Published: Tuesday, Nov 19th 2024, 11:10
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Switzerland wants to dispose of its radioactive waste from the last fifty years domestically. Nagra (the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste) has been searching for a suitable site for almost half a century. Here is a chronology of the decades-long process - starting with the most recent events.
- November 19, 2024: Nagra submits the general license application for the deep geological repository in Stadel ZH to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. It submits a total of 13 application documents based on over 200 scientific reports. Together, these reports comprise around 30,000 pages.
- November 15, 2024: Even before Nagra submits the general license application for a geological repository, resistance is spreading: a committee demands that after parliament, the national electorate should also be able to decide on the project.
- October 18, 2022: Following its plausibility check, the German expert group Schweizer Tiefenlager (ESchT) considers the proposed site in Nördlich Lägern to be "the most suitable in terms of safety based on current knowledge".
- September 12, 2022: After almost 50 years of searching for a site, Nagra proposes the Nördlich Lägern region in the Zurich municipality of Stadel (Haberstal) for the final repository for radioactive waste. The affected population had been informed of the siting decision two days earlier. The repository is planned at a depth of around 850 meters below the ground.
- 2019-2022: Nagra carries out further exploratory drilling in the three remaining regions to complete its geological knowledge. The repository projects are specified with the involvement of the siting regions and the impact of the repositories on society and the economy is examined.
- November 21, 2018: Following Nagra investigations, the Federal Council decides that the sites Jura Ost (AG, west of Brugg), Nördlich Lägern (AG/ZH) and Zürich Nordost (Weinland, ZH/TG) should be examined in greater depth as possible sites for a deep geological repository.
- November 6, 2008: The Swiss Federal Office of Energy designates six regions in which a deep geological repository is possible. These are Jura-Südfuss, Südranden and Wellenberg (each only as a repository for low- and intermediate-level waste) and Jura Ost, Nördlich Lägern and Zürich Nordost (each as a combined repository for low-, intermediate- and high-level waste).
- April 2, 2008: The Federal Council gives the green light for the search for a site. Initially - starting from a blank, white map of Switzerland - all the areas that could be considered for a deep geological repository are to be identified. It is not political aspects that are to be decisive, but solely aspects of geology and operational safety.
- June 28, 2006: The Federal Council considers the storage of high- and intermediate-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants in Switzerland to be possible, as Nagra has provided proof. However, the search for a site should not be limited to the Zürcher Weinland.
- September 28, 2004: Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger calls for alternatives to the Benken ZH repository to be examined.
- December 20, 2002: Following investigations in the Zürcher Weinland, Nagra declares the Opalinus Clay rock there to be suitable for a deep geological repository. It recommends focusing on Benken ZH.
- 1995/2002: Voters in Nidwalden say no twice to plans for a storage facility in Wellenberg.
- 1993/1994: Following its investigations, Nagra proposes two repository sites. Low-level and intermediate-level nuclear waste is to be stored in Wellenberg NW, while high-level and long-lived intermediate-level waste is to be stored in a deep rock layer under Benken ZH in the Zürcher Weinland.
- 1988: The Federal Council considers the proof of disposal of low- and intermediate-level waste in Switzerland to have been provided. Based on Nagra's investigations in the marls (sedimentary rock) of the Oberbauenstock UR, it is considered certain that low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste can theoretically be disposed of safely in Switzerland. The decision on the storage of high-level radioactive waste will be made at a later date.
- 1980s: Nagra is pressing ahead with deep drilling at various sites in order to gain insights into the geological structure of Switzerland.
- 1972: The five nuclear power plant operators and the federal government found the "National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste", or Nagra for short. According to its current statutes, its mission is: "As a self-help organization of the partners, the Cooperative aims to construct and operate repositories for radioactive waste and the necessary facilities."
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