The German Site Selection Procedure – Results presented in the Interim Report by the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH

In 2013, the German Site Selection Act (StandAG) restarted the search for a site with the best possible safety for a geological repository for the high-level radioactive waste produced in Germany. This Act describes the principles of the Site Selection Procedure as a science-based, participative, transparent, self-questioning and learning process. The search area will be narrowed down increasingly over the course of three phases: starting with the entire federal territory, followed by surface exploration in site regions and subsurface exploration of sites, and finally a proposal for a geological repository site offering the best possible safety to host and retard the German high-level radioactive waste. The Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE) is responsible for the implementation of the site selection procedure. With an Interim Report published in 2020, first results were presented, outlining sub-areas in preparation for defining the site regions. These 90 sub-areas are characterized by favorable geological conditions for storage of high-level radioactive waste and are located in the host rocks claystone, crystalline rock and rock salt. As a large number of stakeholders are involved, public participation and community engagement are mandatory in all phases of the site selection procedure. The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) acts as the regulator in the Site Selection Procedure and organizes public participation. At the BGE we inform the public about our work by using digital information formats such as online consultation, explanatory videos and visual presentation of relevant data and models.