The President of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management, Wolfram König, rejects extended service lives for nuclear power plants in Germany. "Such an assessment would not only have to take into account the safety of the nuclear power plants, but also the disposal of the radioactive waste," writes König in an article for the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung". "In both cases, the costs to society as a whole for continued operation of the systems would be considerable," König pointed out. "The societal consensus that has been achieved with great difficulty would also be fundamentally questioned."
Because of the current energy crisis as a result of the Ukraine war, a debate has broken out about letting at least the three nuclear power plants still on the grid run beyond the turn of the year. They should actually go offline at the end of 2022.
Koenig also has serious doubts about the timetable for the search for a site for a nuclear waste repository in Germany. According to the law, the decision for a repository site should be made by 2031, so that storage can begin from 2050. "My Federal Office has repeatedly reminded the company commissioned with the site search that the process is progressing, so that the legally stipulated timetable is adhered to. Another 20 years are to be expected before the repository is ready for operation," writes König. "Today I have to state that I no longer consider the goal of 2031 to be realistic."
