Six sites in Switzerland have been shortlisted as new repositories for nuclear waste, all of them geologically and technically sound, Swiss nuclear authorities say.
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The Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate confirmed on Friday a list of sites proposed in 2008 and analysed by the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra).
They include areas in cantons Schaffhausen, Zurich, Aargau, Thurgau, Solothurn and Nidwalden.
The federal government will make a final decision on where nuclear waste should be stored in 2011.
However, it is likely to take about ten years to secure the necessary permits to build such a site. The federal authorities will first solicit input from the cantons, neighbouring countries and political parties.
The goal is to have at least two sites available for each type of nuclear waste based on radioactivity levels – high, medium and low.
Nuclear power is Switzerland’s second-largest source of electricity with five plants producing almost 40 per cent of the country’s needs. Radioactive waste is currently stored at an interim facility in canton Aargau.
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Nuclear plants safe but waste management not
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The inspectorate said no serious incidents were recorded in any of the five power plants during 2006, but its expert panel says that areas including waste management leave something to be desired. Professor Walter Wildi, president of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Commission, which advises the inspectorate, told swissinfo that 2006 was a “good year…
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The proposals have met with opposition from anti-nuclear organisations and most cantonal governments. Six regions in northern and central Switzerland were identified as possible sites for radioactive waste from the country’s five nuclear power plants, as well as from research, medicine and industry. “Today marks the first step in a ten-year procedure,” said Walter Steinmann…
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He was speaking to journalists after his Swiss counterpart, Moritz Leuenberger, addressed members of the German parliament’s environment commission about Switzerland’s attempts to find an acceptable depot for its nuclear waste. “Switzerland is not trying to rush into this”, Gabriel said, “The focus has been first and foremost the safety and security of a possible…
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