Public participation in the site selection procedure

In 2013, the German Bundestag passed the “Act on the Search and Selection of a Site for a Repository for Heat-Generating Radioactive Waste”, or Site Selection Act (StandAG) for short. The aim of the site selection procedure is to find the best possible site for a final disposal facility in Germany for waste generated domestically, particularly highly radioactive waste, in a science-based and transparent process (Section 1 (1) StandAG). The site selection procedure should be completed by 2031. This will be followed by concrete planning and then the construction of a facility for final disposal. In all likelihood, the project will not be realized before 2050. The storage of radioactive waste and the closure of the repository will take decades. The legislator of the StandAG has broken new ground with the elements of public participation provided for in §§ 8 ff. of the StandAG. The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BfE), newly established by the Stand-AG, is obliged to further develop the procedure for public participation (§ 9 para. 4 StandAG). For public participation in the search for and selection of the best possible repository site, it is not sufficient to structure the formal public participation procedure alone. At the same time, the special features of the search for and selection of a repository must be identified for public participation; such an analysis must necessarily be preceded by recommendations and further developments for structuring the formal participation process. With the role assigned to the public in the procedure, the legislator of the StandAG wanted to create confidence in the new beginning of the search for a repository in Germany and acceptance, or at least acceptability, of the subsequent site selection and optimize the planning process. This can only succeed if, starting from

The “current public” will be given the opportunity to participate in the development of the basis for decision-making, for example on general safety requirements. Today’s “public”, which is given the opportunity to participate in the development of decision-making principles, for example on general safety requirements, will be largely different from that which is to be involved, for example, in the context of surface exploration by the BfE. This, in turn, will in part be different from the public that is also to be involved by the BfE with regard to the selection for underground explorations, etc. This is because – in addition to spatial concerns that only become apparent over time and possibly change – parts of the public will drop out over time, partly inevitably for reasons of age, partly due to “fatigue”. This means that the search for and selection of a repository site, as envisaged by the StandAG, as well as its construction, are unique in terms of their temporal and structural dimensions; this also applies to public participation.