Switzerland picks site near German border for nuclear waste storage

theguardian.com:

Swiss authorities have selected a site in northern Switzerland, not far from the German border, to host a deep geological storage repository for radioactive waste.

After nearly 50 years of searching for the best way to store its radioactive waste, Switzerland is gearing up for its “project of the century”, entailing burying spent nuclear fuel deep underground in clay.

The organisation in charge of handling the country’s radioactive waste said on Saturday it had decided that the Nördlich Lägern region was the best of three sites it had been considering for the underground storage facility.

We “chose Nördlich Lägern as the safest site for a deep geological repository,” Felix Glauser, a spokesperson for the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra), told AFP in an email, confirming a report by the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS.

“Extensive investigations have shown that Nördlich Lägern is the most suitable site and has the largest safety reserves,” he added.

Nagra has informed the local population directly and is expected to present its proposal to the Swiss government on Monday, Keystone-ATS reported.

The Swiss government is not due to make the final decision until 2029, but that is unlikely to be the last word as the issue would probably go to a referendum under Switzerland’s famous direct democracy system.

Swiss nuclear power plants have been pumping out radioactive waste for more than half a century.

But after the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima power station in Japan, Switzerland decided to phase out nuclear power gradually: its reactors can continue for as long as they remain safe.

For now, the waste is being stored in an “intermediary depot” in Würenlingen, 9.3 miles (15km) from the German