The search for a suitable final repository for highly radioactive waste has already lasted several decades. The foundation for a procedure to select a final repository was made when the law for selecting possible locations (Standortauswahlgesetz) was passed in 2013. The
was introduced in 2016.Prof. Dr. Maria-Theresia Schafmeister is chair of Applied Geology | Hydrogeology at the University of Greifswald. Her work focuses on methods of quantifying the reliability of forecasts. When assessing possible locations, it is not only important to produce reliable models of the subterranean geology, but also to consider whether and in which form water circulates and could possibly contribute towards the spread of contaminations.
‘As a geologist, I have closely followed the topic of storing radioactive waste underground since the end of the 1970s. I therefore consider it to be my duty to make the procedure for selecting a location transparent, even though it is a procedure that has to consider processes in the geological underground that are not really ‘transparent’ for anyone in the sense of see-through. Moreover, as someone who sees herself as a collaborative person, I am gladly prepared to mediate between the academic disciplines, politics and humans,’ says Prof. Dr. Maria-Theresia Schafmeister.
The national advisory group takes on a mediatory and independent advisory role in the procedure for selecting a location for a final repository for Germany’s highly radioactive waste. The focus lies on the involvement of the general public. Therefore, the body comprises not only academics, but also students and interested citizens. The aim of the advisory group is to make the search for the final repository as transparent as possible and thus gain the trust of the general public in the procedure.
Applied Geology and Hydrogeology
at the University of Greifswald’s Institute of Geography and Geology
Contact at the University of Greifswald
Prof. Dr. Maria-Theresia Schafmeister
Institute of Geography and Geology
Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Straße 17 A, 17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 4592