Nagra calls for a referendum on the new nuclear repository
Published: Tuesday, Nov 19th 2024, 11:10
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The Swiss people are to vote on the future nuclear waste repository in the Zurich municipality of Stadel. This was requested by the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) when submitting the application documents to the federal government.
On Tuesday, Nagra submitted two general license applications, one for the nuclear repository near Stadel and a second for the fuel element packaging facility in Würenlingen AG. It wants to prove that the site proposed in 2022 is the best location and that a deep geological repository there will meet the highest safety standards in the long term.
"We are demonstrating that we can build and operate a deep geological repository safely, even if it is challenging," Nagra CEO Matthias Braun was quoted as saying in a press release on the submission of the applications. Nagra has also demonstrated that the repository is compatible with environmental protection. It is to be built from 2045.
Testing in several stages
The nuclear repository for radioactive waste and the packaging facility for fuel elements will be built at two different locations. Nagra therefore had to submit two general license applications. According to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), these will now first be checked for completeness by spring 2025.
Once all the necessary documents have been submitted, the applications are published. The substantive review then begins. This is carried out by the nuclear supervisory authority Ensi and the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) and is expected to last until 2027.
Then it is the turn of the federal authorities and the cantons to submit their comments. The affected regions in Switzerland and Germany can also express their opinions. These comments will also be made public. All interested parties will then be able to comment, wrote the SFOE.
Referendum is possible
The SFOE will draw up the general permits on the basis of the reviews and comments. Towards the end of the decade, the Federal Council and then Parliament will decide on this. A referendum can be held against the decisions of the councils and thus a vote can be brought about.
When submitting the applications on Tuesday, Nagra also called for a broad debate on its plans and direct democratic legitimization with a referendum. It assumes that a referendum could take place in the federal election year 2031.
A committee critical of the repository had already called for a national referendum on Friday. It argued that the electorate should have the last word on such a complex issue: "We are voting on cow horns. Then even more so on a highly toxic, highly radioactive nuclear waste disposal site in the middle of the Zurich conurbation, under the approach path of Kloten Airport, in close proximity to the Rhine and the national border."
Reasons for the choice of location
The general license applications include a safety and security report as well as a justification of the site proposals for the facilities. Also included are specifications on the maximum permissible radiation exposure for people in the vicinity as well as the size and location of the most important buildings.
The repository in Stadel is to be a combined storage facility. It is intended to accommodate highly radioactive waste as well as low- and intermediate-level waste. According to the SFOE, the application for the repository specifies the maximum amount of material that can be stored at the site, what the protection zone in the ground will look like and how the repository will be sealed.
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