All Quiet on the Southern Front?

Although it was the weekend of the vote on Freiburg's new stadium, the Badische Zeitung titled its Saturday edition: Atomendlager am Hochrhein (Permanent atomic disposal site on the Upper Rhine); in other words, the monster had resurfaced.

Since I last informed you about the topic in April 2014, it had all been quiet on the southern front until last Friday. On January 30, 2015, the Swiss Federal Office for Energy told the press that, after its investigation into possible sites for the permanent storage of high-level radioactive waste, which had started in 2008, it had eventually homed in on two sites on the Upper Rhine.

©Badische Zeitung

The Zürcher Weinland south of Schaffhausen and the East Jura (Bözberg) in the Canton Aargau are favored because of their suitable geological formation. Next, the NAGRA (National Association for the Storage of Radioactive Waste) will conduct extensive geological drilling. 

By 2020, it shall define the two sites more precisely and apply for permission to store high-level radioactive material. The government in Bern will decide on authorization in 2027, followed by a debate in parliament and a popular vote. What will happen if the people decide against the proposal? I do not know. Red Baron will no longer be concerned.

The people of South Baden are scared: It is now clear that all radioactive waste from Switzerland will be disposed of near the German border. Some ask for a European solution, claiming that better storage sites may be found elsewhere. However, Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, and do you really think any European country will accept Swiss radioactivity in its backyard?

While the Swiss have already stepped up to the plate (die Schweizer machen bereits Nägel mit Köpfen), the German Kommission for the Standortfindung will have time until the end of this year to find a consensus on a site in Germany for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. 

Rumors have it that the site selected may be located on the Upper Rhine on the German side of the border, geological formation oblige. Will we one day find a tunnel connecting the two underground storage sites?

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