Germany narrows nuclear waste search to 5% of territory; NSU convict denied release

Germany's Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) has cut the area under consideration for a permanent high-level nuclear waste repository to 5% of the country's territory, down from 25% previously, after eliminating Berlin, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony and Saarland as unsuitable.

The BGE said in a report issued Tuesday that regions in northern, northwestern, southern and eastern Germany remain under consideration. The agency aims to recommend candidate sites for final evaluation by the end of 2027. Its recommendations are not legally binding; German lawmakers will determine the final location.

Germany must store approximately 27,000 cubic metres of highly radioactive nuclear waste generated over more than 60 years of nuclear power generation. The waste is currently held across 16 above-ground interim storage facilities. The last German nuclear plants were decommissioned in April 2023, and the final repository must ensure safety for one million years.

In a separate ruling issued Tuesday, Munich's Higher Regional Court denied early release to Beate Zschäpe, the National Socialist Underground (NSU) convict sentenced to life in prison in 2018 as an accomplice in murders that killed 10 people. The court set her minimum term at 24 years and refused to suspend her sentence to probation, ruling that her guilt was particularly severe. Zschäpe, currently 51, could still appeal the decision, as could the Federal Prosecutor's Office. The court said she retained a good chance of leaving prison alive.