Case study on the placement of surface facilities for deep disposal in Switzerland. TAP HAFF - Module 3 - WP 3. TRANSENS - Transdisciplinary Research on High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal in Germany

The aim of the Swiss sectoral plan procedure for deep geological repositories (SGT), which is structured in three stages, is to select sites for a deep repository for low- and intermediate-level waste (L/ILW) and for a deep repository for spent fuel and high-level waste (HLW) either at two individual sites or as a combined repository at one site. In the case study presented here, the focus is on the surface facilities for the SF/HLW repository (in Germany, this is referred to as day facilities (See "Day facilities of a repository for high-level radioactive waste" (BGE 2021). The term "day" and compounds with it are always used in miners' language when something is on the earth's surface, i.e. daylight is visible.) for the repository). The SGT envisages defining the siting areas for the surface facilities together with the regional public. The surface infrastructure comprises all facilities required for handling radioactive waste and for the construction, operation and decommissioning of a deep geological repository. In the handling of high-level waste, the fuel element packaging facility (BEVA), in which the waste is repackaged from transport and storage casks into repository containers, is the core of the surface facility. Further facilities are required for cask acceptance and cask management. The repository will be accessed via main access facilities and one or two secondary access facilities, which will be either shafts or tunnels. While the main access is used for waste emplacement, the construction of the deep geological repository is carried out via the secondary access facilities. Since the auxiliary access facilities will remain in place during the monitoring phase envisaged in Switzerland after the end of emplacement and the final decommissioning of the deep repository will also be carried out via them, they will remain in place for about 100 years, which is significantly longer than all other surface infrastructure facilities. During deep repository operation, facilities for the management of excavated and backfill materials, workshops, for firefighting, facilities for administrative activities, and others will be required. In total, the surface facilities at the repository, including a BEVA and ancillary access facilities but excluding an optionally required loading station, are estimated to require 10.4 to 12.6 ha of land. Since the beginning of stage 2 of the sectoral plan procedure, the regional public has accompanied the procedure in regional conferences. In stage 2, the regional conferences commented on the proposed locations of the surface facilities and selected one, in one case two, sites. In stage 3, the sites were specified in more detail and sites were also proposed for the location of the secondary access facilities. In the Zurich North-East siting region, this led to a step back in the procedure. Possible sites for surface facilities were re-evaluated. As a result, the region decided on a different site than the one selected in stage 2. Intensive discussions were also held about the BEVA, which, according to the result from stage 2, could also be built at a site other than that of the deep geological repository. The examination of the option not envisaged in the SGT was made possible by a decision of the Swiss government, the Federal Council. However, a participation format carried out in stage 3 with the three remaining siting regions, the cantons and also German representatives resulted in different votes. All three regional conferences submitted their final statements in September 2021 and December 2021, respectively, in which they decided in favour of a surface facility area and secondary access areas. The site for which the operator intends to submit a general licence application will be announced at the end of 2022. The results of the case study suggest that individual topics could also be discussed in the German selection procedure. However, the site selection procedure does not currently provide for any concrete specifications on public participation in the design of the infrastructure on the earth's surface. The participation of the subsequent regional conferences in general and also in this issue still needs to be discussed and, if necessary, negotiated. This also includes process issues such as setbacks in the procedure and an adjustment of the time schedule. The issue of external placement of facilities is already being discussed at other nuclear sites in Germany (e.g. Asse II interim storage facility, Konrad logistics centre). Therefore, it could also become relevant in the German site selection procedure.