[mdbug]

We tried to bury the waste deep underground in the 60s and 70s already. Let's say it didn't work out so well and now we are still planning how to retrieve it since the decision was made in 2013.

We have not yet found a geologically suitable site in Germany. In contrast to the less disturbed granites of Finland and Sweden, the formations occurring in Germany are more fractured and thus less suitable. Currently, several salt and clay blocks are being investigated for their suitability as repositories, but they have other problems. (Water solubility for salt and lower stability for clay).

"According to the report of the Repository Commission, the final disposal of highly radioactive waste in Germany will drag on well into the 22nd century. The commission expects the end of emplacement to occur between the years 2075 and 2130, while the "state of a sealed repository mine should be reached between 2095 and 2170 or later." Accordingly, highly radioactive waste could be housed in interim storage facilities until after 2100. At the same time, final storage costs are projected to range from about 49 billion to 170 billion euros; significantly more than the 23 billion euros in payments transferred by nuclear power plant operators to the government for this purpose on July 3, 2017."

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endlager_(Kerntechnik)#Weltwei...

[HyperSane]

Watching Germany do anything related to nuclear energy or waste is like the people in in infomercials failing to do very basic tasks. Get your act together.

[riedel]

I tend to agree. However, turning them off is partially exactly getting the act together.

The very big problem is that at the same time particularly southern German states fail to support renewables and power distribution lines.

So while there was a time line. One part of the time line was missed. So everyone decided to rather count on Russian gas as an intermediary solution with the known geopolitical consequences that followed.

PS: Strange twist: There is a German company that now wants to produce fuel elements for Russian nuclear power plants...

[HyperSane]

> turning them off is partially exactly getting the act together.

Only from an old-school deeply irrational fear of nuclear energy perspective. Now that we know how catastrophic climate change could be the rational choice would be to replace all coal and gas with nuclear. Germans also really need to understand just how critical cheap and reliable electricity is to quality of life and GDP. Germany is making very bad decisions for deeply ideological reasons divorced from any understanding of real world technological limitations.

The time line was never realistic.