Germany has no functioning long-term repository for high-level nuclear waste. The search for a permanent site has dragged on for decades. Because Germany is densely populated, there are no remote areas where waste could be stored far from people. Every proposed site triggers fierce local resistance (“Not in my backyard”). Temporary storage in mine shafts proved to be unreliable and very expensive to maintain. When Germany decided on the nuclear phase-out, the government negotiated a one-off payment from the nuclear plant operators (E.ON, RWE, EnBW, Vattenfall). In exchange, the operators were freed from their long-term liability for nuclear waste storage. Future costs are now on taxpayers.
Germany has no functioning long-term repository for high-level nuclear waste. The search for a permanent site has dragged on for decades. Because Germany is densely populated, there are no remote areas where waste could be stored far from people. Every proposed site triggers fierce local resistance (“Not in my backyard”). Temporary storage in mine shafts proved to be unreliable and very expensive to maintain. When Germany decided on the nuclear phase-out, the government negotiated a one-off payment from the nuclear plant operators (E.ON, RWE, EnBW, Vattenfall). In exchange, the operators were freed from their long-term liability for nuclear waste storage. Future costs are now on taxpayers.