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According to German intelligence, terrorist Salah Abdeslam did not have German nuclear files

German intelligence agency disputes reports Salah Abdeslam had German nuclear files http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/14/paris-attacks-suspect-salah-abdeslam-had-german-nuclear-files

Spokeman for domestic intelligence agency says its head did not brief MPs on files found in Paris attacks suspect’s flat Guardian, Reuters in Berlin. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has denied reports that Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in the Paris attacks, possessed documents about a nuclear research centre in Germany.

Newspapers in the Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland (RND) media group said on Thursday that documents were found relating to the Juelich centre near the Belgium-Germany border, which is used for the storage of atomic waste.

The centre said in a statement that there was no indication of any danger and that Juelich was in contact with security authorities and nuclear supervisors.

The RND newspapers cited sources within the parliamentary control committee, whose meetings are confidential, as saying that Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of the domestic intelligence agency (BfV), told the nine-person committee at the end of March that Abdeslam had the documents.

It said he had disclosed to the committee, which monitors the work of German security agencies, that printouts of articles from the internet and photos of the Juelich chairman, Wolfgang Marquardt, had been found in Abdeslam’s apartment in the Molenbeek area of Brussels.

The BfV on Thursday denied Maaßen had briefed the committee. “This is not right,” a spokeswoman said. “We have no information about this. Our president Maaßen never talked to any members of parliament.”

Two committee members also told Reuters that they had not been informed about the matter.

RND earlier reported that several members of the Bundestag and a terrorism expert at the BfV said they knew of this information and that Maaßen had confidentially informed them.

Abdeslam, born and raised in Belgium to Moroccan-born parents, was arrested on 18 March in Brussels. Four days later, suicide bombers killed 32 people in Brussels airport and on a rush-hour metro train.

Concerns that Islamic extremists are turning their attention to potential weak spots in the nuclear industry have risen since the attacks.

April 15, 2016 Posted by | Germany, safety | Leave a comment

German nuclear centre a target for Paris terrorist?

Paris terrorist was eyeing German nuclear centre http://www.thelocal.de/20160414/paris-attacks-ringleader-had-records-of-german-nuclear-plant 4 Apr 2016 Salah Abdeslam, a key figure in the Paris attacks last November, was gathering information on a nuclear energy research centre in Germany, new evidence seen by German media revealed on Thursday.

Salah Abdeslam had documents at his apartment about a nuclear research centre at Jülich in North Rhine-Westphalia, raising concerns for authorities about what he many have been planning on German soil.

The documents included articles printed out from online sources about the research facility, as well as photos of the centre’s head, Wolfgang Marquardt, newspapers under the publishing group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported, citing members of a parliamentary panel.

Abdeslam is currently being held in a Belgian prison, waiting to be deported to France, where he will face trial for terrorism offences in connection with the November 13th Paris attacks that left 130 dead.

The most recent documents were reportedly found inside of Abdeslam’s apartment where the French national was arrested last month in the Molenbeek district of Brussels.

Just days later, three bombs went off in Brussels in a coordinated terror attack that killed 32 people.

German domestic intelligence (Verfassungsschutz) President German Hans-Georg Maaßen reportedly informed several members of a Bundestag (German Parliament) security committee last month about the findings.

But according to RND, the Chancellery and the Interior Ministry declared that they did not have any information about the documents.

Similar information about the Brussels terrorists monitoring a Belgian nuclear scientist several weeks ago fueled speculation that they could have been planning to somehow get radioactive material for a dirty bomb, perhaps by blackmailing the researcher. They reportedly spied on the researcher, including filming him at his home for hours.

Immediately after the Brussels attacks, a Belgian nuclear power plant was evacuated of all non-essential personnel. Officials were also concerned when it emerged that two former Belgian nuclear power plant workers had gone to Syria to fight with Isis, one of whom was killed.

German nuclear power plants are extensively protected against the possibility of any interferences or other actions by an outside person, including terror attacks, according to the German Environment Ministry.

But according to environmental NGO BUND, the reactors are not sufficiently safe enough against air attacks.

April 15, 2016 Posted by | Germany, safety | Leave a comment

Fake safety check at German nuclear facility

Nuclear staff feigned safety check just before  SZ.de newspaper
magazine  [Google translation] 
The Ministry of Environment of Baden-Württemberg has the operator now prohibited, the affected reactor Philippsburg 2 to go back. From Michael Bauchmüller , Berlin 14 Apr 16 

The power company EnBW has uncovered a serious vulnerability in one of its nuclear power plants. As the company announced on Wednesday, an employee of an external service faked last December a security check, without having performed it. The Ministry of Environment in Stuttgart said on Wednesday the re-start of the reactor……..http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/vom-netz-genommen-akw-mitarbeiter-taeuschte-sicherheitspruefung-nur-vor-1.2948941

April 15, 2016 Posted by | Germany, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Amusement Park built from failed $5.3 billion nuclear reprocessing plant

This failed $5.3 billion nuclear power plant in Germany is now an amusement park that gets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year (great photos) http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-power-plant-into-amusement-park-2016-4/?r=AU&IR=TCourtney Verrill

The  SNR-300 was supposed to be Germany’s first fast breeder nuclear reactor when construction began in 1972. The reactor was made to use plutonium as fuel, and it would output 327 megawatts of energy.

Built in Kalkar, the government had some concerns about the safety of the nuclear reactor, which delayed construction. The power plant was finished in 1985 — $5.3 billion later.

But after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the SNR-300 never got a chance to fully operate, and by 1991 the project was officially canceled.

This left the power plant completely unused, and it was eventually sold to a Dutch investor who decided to turn it into an amusement park: Wunderland Kalkar.

 

April 6, 2016 Posted by | decommission reactor, Germany | Leave a comment

Danger of terror attacks on Germany’s nuclear stations

terrorism-targets-2German nuclear plants are vulnerable to terrorist attacks – study Rt.com 24 Mar, 2016 Germany’s nuclear power plants are insufficiently protected against potential terror attacks, including 9/11-style ones, according to a newly-released study.

A nuclear plant’s smokescreen designed to prevent any attacks on it from air provides only minimal protection for the facility, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) news agency reported, citing findings presented by Oda Becker, a physicist and independent expert on nuclear plants, at the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) congress in Berlin on Thursday.

Such smokescreen “only slightly diminishes a chance of collision with a plane,” hijacked by terrorists. Additionally, only two out of eight currently operating nuclear plants in Germany are equipped with such systems, the report points out.

According to Becker’s research, another significant threat to German nuclear plants is posed by a possible terrorist attack using helicopters filled with explosives. A fall of an aircraft rigged with explosives on a nuclear plant could lead to a “massive release of radiation,” as nuclear facilities in Germany are not designed to withstand explosions of such scale.

Reliability tests have demonstrated that the plants’ personnel cannot possibly prevent terrorists from infiltrating the facility and committing a terrorist act there, the study adds.

In another study published March 8 and titled “Nuclear power 2016 – secure, clean, everything under control?” Becker listed insufficient security standards, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and emergencies caused by the deterioration of the German nuclear plants’ security systems as major threats to the industry.

“A serious accident is possible in case of every German nuclear plant,” she said at that time, adding that “there are no appropriate accident management plans.” Becker added that temporary nuclear waste storage sites can also pose a serious threat to people, as they can also be targeted by terrorists and lack relevant security systems.

“The interim [nuclear waste] storages lack protection against aircraft crashes and dangers posed by terrorists,” Becker said, adding that security aspects of the future nuclear waste storage should be discussed, including possible security upgrades of the existing storage sites and the establishment of new facilities.

According to Belgian media, Brussels suicide bombers Khalid and Ibrahim El-Bakraoui were already planning attacks on nuclear plants, although not in Germany but in Belgium. The arrest of Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam allegedly thwarted their plans and forced them to choose another target………

The recent news from Belgium has given some German politicians and activists additional cause for concern. Hubert Weiger, the head of the BUND, said that the Brussels attacks became another reason for immediate nuclear phase-out. “It is even more necessary than ever to abandon this technology,” he said, as quoted by DPA.

Eight nuclear plants remain operational in Germany, after Angela Merkel’s government decided to abandon the use of nuclear energy and immediately halt all operations on the country’s eight oldest nuclear plants in March 2011. Another plant was shut down in 2015. The remaining nuclear stations are due to be closed by 2022.

At the same time, Simone Peter, a co-chair of the German Green Party, demanded additional security checks at all European nuclear plants.

“EU nuclear power plant stress tests did not include [the possibility] of a terrorist attack. It is time to reassess [our] approach to security,” she tweeted. https://www.rt.com/news/337092-german-nuclear-plants-terrorists/

March 25, 2016 Posted by | Germany, safety | Leave a comment

Court hearing – clash between German Govt and nuclear utilities

German utilities, government clash at nuclear court hearing  Reuters 14 Mar 16 

*Gov’t confident it will win the case -Minister

* Utilities could claim as much as 19 bln euros

* Final decision to take several months (Recasts, adds comments from RWE, Minister, graphic)

By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff KARLSRUHE, Germany, German power firms and government members clashed at a court hearing over the country’s controversial decision to shut down all nuclear plants by 2022, a lawsuit that could allow utilities to claim 19 billion euros ($21 billion) in damages.

In a case that pits a struggling energy industry against the government, Germany’s Constitutional Court will examine the arguments of E.ON, RWE and Vattenfall , who want to be compensated for the closure………http://uk.reuters.com/article/germany-utilities-nuclear-idUKL5N16N2G7

March 16, 2016 Posted by | Germany, Legal | Leave a comment

Germany 2016: Expanding renewables, stagnating decarbonisation

logo-Energiewendenu Clear News, Mar 16 .  “……….Despite some short-term market and industry disruptions, the Energiewende policy has been largely successful in achieving its stated goals, and public support remains strong. As reported in a January 2016 by Agora Energiewende, a Berlin-based energy think tank from 2012 to 2015, public sentiment in Germany has been strongly supportive of the Energiewende, with 90% saying it is important or very important.
Germany added more renewable energy than ever before in 2015 – 32TWh. While solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is slowing (only about 1.5 GW were installed last year), wind experienced record growth of 50% year over year. The big growth by percentage was in offshore wind, where power generation jumped from just 1.4 TWh in 2014 to above 8.1 TWh in 2015 as the first of several large “windparks” came online. Throughout 2015 dozens of similar large windfarms were under construction in the North Sea, and even more capacity will come online throughout 2016. The current Government wants the renewable share to reach 40-45% by 2025 and between 55-60% by 2035.
Today renewables are on target to exceed the first milestone, so amendments to the renewable energy laws are being introduced which will rein in onshore wind and solar. As more offshore wind comes online in 2016, the entire energy sector is being re-evaluated. Unlike solar and onshore wind which is mostly owned by small companies and communities or co-operatives, offshore wind is being developed by large companies – probably the same fossil fuel companies that originally bet against renewables – the same ones now exporting excess coal-fired electricity abroad.
This means the rate of renewable growth is likely to be cut by two-thirds over the next decade, and taking a leaf out of David Cameron’s book, feed-in tariffs will be replaced by auctions next year. Merkel’s Government seems to be hoping that a large chunk of the difference between today’s 30% renewable share and the 2025 40-45% target will be met by large offshore wind farms – German citizens are being shut out of future growth.
Far from going really badly, as Lord Howell suggests, the transition to renewables in Germany has been going too well. The prospect of more and more communities declaring energy independence is too much for the big energy companies to endure. They are now moving to consolidate their influence on the future direction of the Energiewende. They will fight to stop a renewable target of 80% for 2050 being implemented and they will fight to be allowed to continue exporting coal-fired electricity despite German commitments to tackling climate change. (4)  References….. http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo83.pdf

March 9, 2016 Posted by | ENERGY, Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Germany’s nuclear utilities will have to transfer nuclear clean-up cash by 2022

DecommissioningNuclear commission proposes firms transfer cash by 2022 to pay for clean-up http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFB4N10000F

Mon Feb 22, 2016BERLIN Feb 22 (Reuters) – Germany’s utilities will have to transfer provisions set aside to pay for the interim and final storage of nuclear waste to a fund in cash by 2022, according to a draft report from a government-appointed committee seen by Reuters on Monday.

The report recommends that Germany’s “big four” utilities — E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall — remain liable for the cost of up to double the 18 billion euros ($19.8 billion) allocated so far to pay for interim and final storage.

The companies will also have to set aside a further 1.3 billion euros in provisions, according to the report which is due to be presented at the end of the month. ($1 = 0.9084 euros) (Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Caroline Copley; Editing by Christoph Steitz)

February 29, 2016 Posted by | decommission reactor, Germany | Leave a comment

Germany struggles with nuclear waste storage problem

wastes-1flag_germanyGerman nuclear exit plan fails to solve waste storage puzzle http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-nuclear-storage-idUKKCN0VW1Y9 Feb 23, 2016 FRANKFURT | BY CHRISTOPH STEITZ  When Germany committed itself five years ago to phasing out nuclear power by 2022, there was one big gap in its plans — what to do with the waste that can remain toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.

That issue remains unresolved even after a government-appointed nuclear commission came up with ideas on how to ensure funding for shutting down all of the country’s atomic reactors.

According to a draft proposal, utilities E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall [VATN.UL] could be saddled with up to 56 billion euros ($61.6 billion) in costs to cover their share of the cost of the nuclear exit.

But the final bill could climb even higher and the extra cost may have to be met by German taxpayers.

The main uncertainty centres on the difficulty of finding a permanent storage site to house highly radioactive material.

Local opposition has ruled out turning an interim waste storage site in salt formations in the small village of Gorleben in northwest Germany into a final site, with the location having ultimately been excluded by law.

The nuclear commission has proposed capping the utilities’ liability for storage costs at 36 billion euros — twice the size of current provisions made by the four utilities for that part of the process.

This proposal would put a ceiling on costs for the power firms and remove a major source of investor concern.

But there is caution that this is only a draft settlement which does not settle the practical problem of finding a storage site.

Analysts at Jefferies are among those who “remain concerned about the potential for future cost escalations and the negative balance sheet implications that it may have for German utilities”.

GOING UNDERGROUND?

Underlining the tensions around the storage issue, German utilities have sued the government over the Gorleben decision, claiming a ban is politically motivated and will force them to incur additional costs.

The OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency says it is impossible to gauge the future costs of storage sites because each country’s geography is different and there are no previous projects to serve as examples.

In contrast, the dismantling of nuclear plants, for which utilities have set aside about 20 billion euros in provisions, is more predictable in terms of costs.

Several plants have already been torn down and several more are being dismantled after the German government decided to end nuclear in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

More fanciful ideas to dispose of the nuclear waste include shooting it into outer space, but underground storage remains the most feasible option.

Finland and Sweden are most advanced in their preparations for such a solution to their own waste issues, hoping to be the first countries to put high-level waste into underground caverns in the next decade. ($1 = 0.9088 euros)

(Editing by Keith Weir)

February 26, 2016 Posted by | Germany, wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry AND tax-payer funds both may be needed to cover nuclear shutdown costs

DecommissioningSHUTDOWN COSTS Picking Up the Nuclear Tab, Handelsblatt BY KLAUS STRATMANN 23 Feb 16, A leaked draft report on Germany’s exit from nuclear power recommends the nation’s four big utilities foot the €19.7 billion bill for decommissioning their power plants – but any costs above that may be carried by taxpayers.

FACTS In 2011, Germany announced a complete phase-out of nuclear power by 2022, with a target of 80 percent renewable energy by 2050.

The four major power firms in Germany, E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall, and plant operator Krümmel have set aside €39.6 billion for their share of the phase-out costs.

A government financial commission has now devised a structure for dividing the responsibilities and clarifying the financial liabilities of industry and government. Germany moved a step closer this week to deciding how to pay for its forced exit from nuclear power. The government is moving toward requiring four nuclear plant operators pay the first €19.7 billion ($22 billion). Any costs above that — including hard-to-estimate expenses for storing nuclear fuel — would be paid for by taxpayers.

The recommendations are included in a draft of a government report on the issue obtained by Handelsblatt. The document was described as a preliminary recommendation and could have been leaked as a trial balloon.

The draft recommends making E.ON, RWE EnBW and Vattenfall, the four utilities, pay for “decommissioning and demolition” of their nuclear power plants. The government would then step in assume the costs of the trickier task of removing and storing radioactive waste.

The utilities together have set aside about €39.6 billion ($43.6 billion) to cover their costs of decommissioning. But there is a strong possibility that final costs may rise well beyond that.

The cost of waste disposal and storage, in particular, is seen as particularly difficult to gauge, promting fears among consumer advocates that the utilities could end up saddling taxpayers with the majority of costs.

The report recommends that a state fund be set up to pay for the waste disposal, financed in part by the four utilities, which would transfer in about half of their total reserves. But the report stops short of saying how costs would be divided between industry and taxpayers if disposal costs are greater than expected…… https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/374/ressort/politics/article/utilities-wont-escape-nuclear-clean-up-costs

February 25, 2016 Posted by | decommission reactor, Germany | Leave a comment

Germany’s “big four” utilities liable for nearly 40 billion euros for nuclear waste storage

Nuclear commission proposes firms transfer cash by 2022 to pay for clean-up http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFB4N10000F  Feb 22, 2016 BERLIN  (Reuters) – Germany’s utilities will have to transfer provisions set aside to pay for the interim and final storage of nuclear waste to a fund in cash by 2022, according to a draft report from a government-appointed committee seen by Reuters on Monday.

The report recommends that Germany’snuke-reactor-dead— E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall — remain liable for the cost of up to double the 18 billion euros ($19.8 billion) allocated so far to pay for interim and final storage.

The companies will also have to set aside a further 1.3 billion euros in provisions, according to the report which is due to be presented at the end of the month. ($1 = 0.9084 euros) (Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Caroline Copley; Editing by Christoph Steitz)

February 25, 2016 Posted by | decommission reactor, Germany | Leave a comment

Limited liability for Germany’s nuclear operators in nuclear paseout

Decommissioningflag_germanyGerman commission favours limited liability for nuclear phaseout-document http://www.reuters.com/article/germany-nuclear-idUSB4N11703M  Feb 18 Germany’s nuclear operators could face only limited long-term liability for the costs of the country’s nuclear phaseout, according to a paper from a government-appointed commission seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The paper indicates that the commission took on board concerns of the four utilities – E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall – which have earmarked nearly 40 billion euros in provisions to pay for the dismantling and storage of waste from their nuclear plants.

The last plant will be closed in 2022.

Worries over their financial health have raised fears that the companies may be unable to turn the provisions – including some illiquid assets – into liquid funds, eventually leaving taxpayers to foot some or much of the bill.

The paper said an unlimited liability would lead to excessive demands being made of the operators and that this would ultimately not be beneficial to society.

The paper said the operators may be asked to set aside additional funds on top of existing provisions for the costs of the nuclear phaseout, and that it favoured a state-controlled fund for the long-term costs.

A spokesman for E.ON said he did not want to comment before the final results of the commission are published. (Additional reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf; Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Noah Barkin)

February 19, 2016 Posted by | decommission reactor, Germany | Leave a comment

Costly, not available for decades, but Germany steps forward in nuclear fusion development

How Germany took big step toward nuclear fusion  German scientists working on the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device started a series of experiments that could eventually prove the superiority of the stellarator-type fusion devices. By Corey Fedde, Christian Science Monitor Staff FEBRUARY 3, 2016 

Nuclear fusion power has been the dream of many since the 1950s and on Wednesday German scientists took one step closer to making it possible.
fusion reactor Germany
German scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Greifswald, joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, injected hydrogen into the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device and heated the gas into plasma for a moment, according to the press release.

The device will not produce energy from the plasma, but the experiment is the first of many that could prove whether the design is capable of being used as a power plant. If so, it could answer one of the many questions surrounding nuclear fusion.

Two different designs for fusion power plants have shown promise: the tokamak, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor being constructed in France, and the stellarator. The Wendelstein 7-X is the world’s largest stellarator.

Only the ITER project, a tokamak, is thought to be able to produce plasma that supplies energy, according to the press release. The experiments begun Wednesday could prove that stellarator designs could produce comparable heat- and plasma-confinement.

Scientists working on the Wendelstein 7-X will perform similar experiments, heating gas to plasma and holding it in stasis, over the next four years, slowly increasing the temperature and the time of the discharges, according to the press release.

Eventually, in about four years, the Wendelstein 7-X will test its full heating power (20 megawatts) and discharges lasting 30 minutes………

Nuclear fusion is seen as a safe, efficient form of nuclear power and has been proposed as an eventual replacement for oil and fossil fuels, according to the press release.

But critics have pointed to the mounting cost of a technology that is still under development and likely remain unavailable for decades. Investments for the Greifswald fusion device have surpassed €1 billion over the last 20 years, CBS News reported.

The ITER project recently announced in November that it would take six years longer to construct than previously thought and would require additional funding from the €5 billion estimate in 2006. Science reports current estimates place the ITER project needing €15 billion.  http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0203/How-Germany-took-big-step-toward-nuclear-fusion

February 5, 2016 Posted by | Germany, technology | 4 Comments

Germany’s costly nuclear waste dump correction

Environment state secretary Jochen Flasbarth, who described the situation in Asse II as “disastrous”, told journalists in Berlin that the current plan was to store the Asse waste, once retrieved, with the high-level radioactive waste for which the government is still searching a site…….

The Asse case shows how difficult it can be to undo a decision related to nuclear waste storage. It will take longer to retrieve the waste than it did to dump it

waste cavern Germany

text-relevantWhy Germany is digging up its nuclear waste, By  , EU Observer, WOLFENBUETTEL, GERMANY, TODAY, 2 Feb 16  “….. in hindsight, the Asse II salt mine should never have been used in the 1960s and 1970s as a site to dump nuclear waste, said Ingo Bautz of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection………To anti-nuclear activists, Asse is a prime example of government not listening to citizens’ concerns. “Incidents were predicted,” said Wolfgang Ehmke, activist in the Gorleben region.

But the waste had to be stored somewhere, so the voices that warned against selecting Asse II were ignored.

“The potential risks for the future were accepted,” Bautz said, during a recent press visit to the mine organised by Clean Energy Wire, a non-profit group supported by the Mercator and European Climate foundations.

Road signs, deep underground

Until 1978, low and intermediate-level radioactive waste was stored in Asse II, the only such site in Germany.

Ten years later, the operator of the mine discovered leaks of radioactive brine. But it was not until 2008, when media reported about it, that the leaks became public knowledge.

The German government took control of the mine and tasked the Federal Office for Radiation Protection with its decommissioning.

The office concluded that the risk of groundwater contamination was too big, and the only truly safe option was to retrieve all the waste from the mine and store it elsewhere. In all, 126,000 containers filled with contaminated clothes, paper and equipment were stored in Asse, the office said.

“This task is very difficult,” said Bautz, who joined journalists to travel into the mine, 658m below the surface.

The lift plunged to the bottom at 36km/h. Inside the mine, the temperature was about 30C even though it was freezing above ground.

The mine is so large that workers have to use cars to get around. In one tunnel an LED road sign typically found in residential areas tells drivers to watch their speed……..

Since the mine is over a century old, it needs to be protected against a collapse or flooding. It will also need another lift to use for retrieving the waste.

And because of safety regulations regarding evacuation, only 120 people can be down in the mine at the same time. Workers are monitored for any exposure to radiation……..

In 2011, the EU adopted a rule obliging each country that has produced nuclear waste to have policies on how to manage their waste. Last August, all member states were due to report about their national programmes for the first time.

Germany told the commission it planned to put “all types of radioactive waste in deep geological disposal facilities with the aim to guarantee isolation from the biosphere in the long term, thus ensuring the safety of man and the environment without any need for maintenance”.

Environment state secretary Jochen Flasbarth, who described the situation in Asse II as “disastrous”, told journalists in Berlin that the current plan was to store the Asse waste, once retrieved, with the high-level radioactive waste for which the government is still searching a site…….

The Asse case shows how difficult it can be to undo a decision related to nuclear waste storage. It will take longer to retrieve the waste than it did to dump it…….

This is second part in a two-part series about Germany’s nuclear waste. Part one was about how Gorleben refused to be the country’s permanent waste repository.  https://euobserver.com/beyond-brussels/132085

February 3, 2016 Posted by | Germany, wastes | Leave a comment

Germany’s nuclear waste nightmare

Radioactive waste dogs Germany despite abandoning nuclear power https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075615-radioactive-waste-dogs-germany-despite-abandoning-nuclear-power/    Major problems at a salt mine where 126,000 drums of radioactive debris are stored are fuelling public distrust of long-term waste disposal plans, reports Fred Pearce from Asse, Germany

Half a kilometre beneath the forests of northern Germany, in an old salt mine, a nightmare is playing out.  A scheme to dig up previously buried nuclear waste is threatening to wreck public support for Germany’s efforts to make a safe transition to a non-nuclear future.

Enough plutonium-bearing radioactive waste is stored here to fill 20 Olympic swimming pools. When engineers backfilled the chambers containing 126,000 drums in the 1970s, they thought they had put it out of harm’s way forever.

But now, the walls of the Asse mine are collapsing and cracks forming, thanks to pressure from surrounding rocks. So the race is on to dig it all up before radioactive residues are flushed to the surface.

 It could take decades to resolve. In the meantime, excavations needed to extract the drums could cause new collapses and make the problem worse.
waste cavern Germany

“There were people who said it wasn’t a good idea to put radioactive waste down here, but nobody listened to them,” says Annette Parlitz, spokeswoman for the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), as we tour the mine.

This is just one part of Germany’s nuclear nightmare. The country is also wrestling a growing backlog of spent fuel. Continue reading

January 30, 2016 Posted by | Germany, Reference, wastes | Leave a comment