Nuclear waste - in need of a long term solution

Nuclear waste is a problem that the Swiss society wants to abolish. The Swiss population has agreed to the new energy policy and therefore turned their backs on nuclear energy. Alas, the currently running nuclear power plants will not just disappear. Their rebuilding will cost significant amount of money and the nuclear waste problem remains unsolved.

Currently all Swiss nuclear waste is stored at the central interim storage facility (DE: ZWILAG) in Würelingen. This storage facitility is as its name suggest only interim. It was created to handle the highest radioactive waste for 30-40 years. The graphic below shos the ZWILAG operation (zwilag.ch)

After this period of 40 years, the waste was planned to move to a deep geological repository. Unfortunately there has been no success to open such a deep geological repository and therefore all the waste remains at the ZWILAG. Politicians from all parties refuse to support a deep repository and therefore no commune so far agreed to have a repository located within its boundries. Mainly green and left wing politicians oppose such a storage due to environmental concerns.

These politicians should realize though, that the waste has to be stored somewhere for the next hundreds of years. The current storage literally carries the word interim in its name and therefore a final solution for nuclear waste should be pushed forward.

http://www.nagra.ch/de/wieentsorgen.htm

www.zwilag.ch

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/standard/atommuellendlager-nagra-bereitet-sondierbohrungen-vor/story/12403343