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Nuclear waste repository: Rhineland-Palatinate is eliminated, Baden-Württemberg remains!
Baden-Württemberg in the race for nuclear waste repository: BGE presents new location options and exclusions for 2025.
Nuclear waste repository: Rhineland-Palatinate is eliminated, Baden-Württemberg remains!
The search for a nuclear waste repository in Germany is well underway, and the Federal Agency for Final Storage (BGE) recently announced new developments. On Monday, November 3, 2025, the BGE presented the current status of the location search. Since 2020, a systematic search has been underway for suitable regions, and the results are complex.
Originally, 90 sub-areas were up for consideration, over half of which have now been checked off as unsuitable. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the areas around Guntersblum and Bad Dürkheim proved to be problematic because the geological investigations showed “low suitability”. In particular, the unfavorable “overall tectonic situation” in Guntersblum and the large sedimentary cover of more than 200 meters in the Palatinate represent obstacles. There will therefore be no nuclear waste repository in this region, like SWR reported.
But what does it look like in other federal states? In Baden-Württemberg, three regions have successfully completed the first two test steps. These areas are located in the Black Forest, east of Heidelberg and a strip from Riedlingen to Günzburg in Bavaria. Overall, around 25 percent of Germany's area is currently still potentially suitable for the storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste, which is currently housed in 16 above-ground interim storage facilities in various federal states. The BGE will stay on the ball in the coming years and is expected to report on progress again in 2026.
A lengthy process
One thing is clear: searching for a suitable location is time-consuming. According to physics expert Prof. Bruno Thomauske, it is estimated that it will take until 2079 before a final location is determined. BR makes it clear that areas are filtered out step by step according to strict scientific criteria. This is a lengthy process, with the goal of development being to provide security for a million years. The Bundestag will make the final decision on the location, which should be determined by 2050 at the latest. Until then, the issue of nuclear waste remains urgent.
Prof. Thomauske also sees challenges to their suitability as final repositories in the Bavarian regions, such as the Passau district and the Schwandorf district, due to geological conditions. The BGE itself reports that much larger areas are considered suitable in northern Germany.
It remains to be seen how the situation will develop by the end of 2027, when a proposal for further exploration is to be presented. For the time being, however, the nuclear waste sits safely in the existing interim storage facilities and awaits a future-proof solution to the upcoming challenges regarding the final storage facility.