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Damage Apparently Kept Secret at German Nuclear Waste Site | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 16.01.2009

Damage Apparently Kept Secret at German Nuclear Waste Site Deutsche Welle 16 Jan 09

The heat has been turned up on Germany’s radiation protection office after it was revealed that an old salt mine in the German state of Lower Saxony, where nuclear waste is being stored, has sustained damaged.

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) had learned late last year that pieces of the ceiling of the 750-meter (2,500-foot) deep chamber were unstable and could collapse on top of the 6,000 radioactive waste drums below.

 

The information about the Asse nuclear waste site was posted discreetly on the radiation office’s Web site late Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Lower Saxony Environment Minister Hans-Heinrich Sander said he was only informed of the damage to the storage site Thursday, but the radiation office said the ministry had been informed all along.

 

The BfS said it could not rule out damage to the waste containers should the Asse site ceiling collapse,

Damage Apparently Kept Secret at German Nuclear Waste Site | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 16.01.2009

January 17, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties