Press release: Gorleben mine to be closed

Joint press release from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) with the Lower Saxony Ministry for Environment, Energy, Construction and Climate Protection (NMU), the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) and the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE).

With the interim report of the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE) on 28 September 2020, the Gorleben salt dome was eliminated from the repository search for geological reasons. Since then, the BGE and the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) have been investigating how to proceed with the Gorleben mine in Lower Saxony. The BMU has now decided to commission the BGE with the decommissioning of the mine.

Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry, says: “The repository site selection procedure is intended to identify the repository site that offers the greatest possible safety. It’s already clear that this is not the Gorleben salt dome. Since the interim report by the BGE, it’s been scientifically demonstrated that there are numerous sites offering better geological suitability. Today, we turn the page on the chapter of the Gorleben repository. I hope that, in the Wendland region, it will now be possible to heal the wounds wrought by decades of dispute in relation to Gorleben, which has constituted a major social conflict in Germany over the course of three decades. This conflict has served to inform policy in relation to the repository search: ultimately, the reasons why a site was chosen must be readily understandable.”

Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony Minister for Environment, Energy, Construction and Climate Protection, says: “From now on, there’s no turning back. That’s the message we want to get across today, and it represents a hugely important signal for a whole region. After all, recent decades have been dominated by resistance to a repository for nuclear waste in Gorleben, placing a considerable burden on the local population. Now, this resistance has produced a positive end to a struggle that was rightly fought in this region against a mistaken political decision. From today, ‘Gorleben’ is finally a thing of the past. It’s now time to leave this period behind us once and for all and to develop and implement joint concepts for the future of the Wendland. After all, this is a region with enormous potential not only because of its natural landscapes and tourism, but also in terms of the turnaround in climate and energy policy.”

Wolfram König, President of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste (BASE), says: “The Gorleben repository is history – but the task of resolving the question of final disposal remains. As we work to phase out this high-risk technology, the last chapter must now be written as a joint effort. It’s a question of good science, transparency, participation and willingness to assume responsibility.”

Stefan Studt, Chair of the Management Board of the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH, says: “The BGE is delighted to be awarded the contract for closing the Gorleben mine. This marks the end of a chapter that was also painful for the workforce of our predecessor company. Our colleagues were just as caught up in this storm as many actors in the region.

Both in the mines and in the repository site selection procedure, the BGE benefits from work that was carried out here – such as the testing of exploration techniques that can be further developed over coming years. The construction of the mine itself was also a demanding process. Our colleagues’ experiences are now paying off as we build the Konrad repository, for example.”

The Gorleben mine is now to be decommissioned, and the salt pile brought back underground. It is now up to the BGE to press ahead with the plans for closure.

Further information

The selection procedure for a repository for high-level radioactive waste has been underway since 2017 and is subject to the provisions of the Repository Site Selection Act (StandAG): in three successive stages, the areas that are potential sites for a repository will be studied in ever greater detail and the process of comparative selection will be narrowed down further. The first phase is divided in two to allow public participation at an early stage in the process. On 28 September 2020, in its Sub-areas Interim Report, the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE) identified sub-areas for which preliminary safety analyses will be carried out for the first time in the second step of the first phase of the repository site selection procedure. The Gorleben salt dome was eliminated from the selection procedure during this first step based on the legally enshrined geological requirements and criteria: following the application of minimum requirements and exclusion criteria, 139 salt domes initially came into question. Subsequently, the application of the geoscientific consideration criteria ruled out the Gorleben salt dome and 78 further salt domes from the repository site selection procedure. The BGE is currently preparing for the further examination of 90 sub-areas, of which 60 are salt domes.

The BMU is the ministry responsible for matters relating to final disposal and is the representative of the federal government as the sole shareholder of the BGE. The BASE supervises the repository site selection procedure. The BGE is conducting the repository site selection procedure and is the operator of the Gorleben mine in Lower Saxony. The NMU is the ministry responsible for nuclear issues at federal state level.