Rehearsing Nuclear Waste Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia
In the evening of Wednesday, an empty Castor container will traverse a simulated nuclear waste transport route in North Rhine-Westphalia. This practice run will start from Jülich, in the district of Düren and conclude at the Ahaus interim storage facility, approximately 170 kilometers away. According to the Jülich Nuclear Waste Management Company (JEN), the prior test, carried out on November 7, ended successfully, reaching Ahaus without incident.
As observers, the German nuclear regulatory authority and their specialists are present during this "cold handling" event. Their role involves scrutinizing and evaluating handling procedures used within the interim storage facilities.
Currently, more than 300,000 fuel element spheres from a former test reactor are stored in 152 Castor casks in Jülich. A definitive decision regarding their final destination remains elusive. Earlier reports to the Bundestag Budget Committee, dating to September 2022, suggest that the Federal Ministries of Research, Environment, and Finance favor transporting the waste to Ahaus. Alternatively, keeping the waste in Jülich is another option. The governing parties in North Rhine-Westphalia, specifically the CDU and Greens, have endorsed Jülich as their preference in their 2022 coalition agreement.
The Castor container itself weighs around 25 tons, with additional safety equipment bringing the overall weight of the transporter to approximately 130 tons. As a heavy transporter, its journeys are limited to nighttime travel. According to the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives for Environmental Protection, protests are planned.
Subscription to the second test run using a Castor container is a rehearsal for potential nuclear waste management procedures in Jülich and Ahaus. Although the container carries 300,000 fuel element spheres from a former test reactor, a conclusive decision concerning their eventual resting place has yet to be made, with both Ahaus and Jülich under consideration.
Enrichment Data Integration
Nuclear waste management in Germany is a complex pursuit, with two central interim storage facilities in Gorleben and Ahaus, alongside several decentralized sites located at or near former nuclear power plants. One potential solution to nuclear waste management is the establishment of a transmutation facility, which could convert radioactive waste into less harmful substances at one of the existing nuclear waste interim storage sites. German authorities, including the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND), are commissioning studies on transmutation projects, featuring technology from Swiss startup Transmutex. Initial demonstration facilities are expected to be profitable, generating revenues from recovered materials, waste disposal, and process heat.
Further insights into future plans for nuclear waste management may be presented at the BASE (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz) organized 3rd International Research Symposium for Nuclear Waste Disposal Safety (safeND), scheduled for September 17-19, 2025. If seeking up-to-date information on the second test transportation of nuclear waste from Jülich to the Ahaus interim storage facility, you should consult recent or specific announcements by relevant German authorities and organizations involved in nuclear waste management.
