Germany cuts its radioactive-waste repository search area to under 5% of the country
From the Energy digest for Oct 29, 2026
What happened: The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal said that over the past year it has reduced the area it is considering for Germany's planned high-level radioactive waste repository from 25% of the country's territory to less than 5%, World Nuclear News reported on October 29, 2026.
What's genuinely new: A measurable one-year narrowing of a siting search that has yet to name any candidate location — a quarter of Germany's land mass dropping to under a twentieth, in an effort that has previously stalled and restarted. The reporting gives no detail on which regions remain, or on the timeline toward a final site.
Watch: The regions still under consideration and the criteria behind the cut; steps toward naming candidate or preferred sites; community and state-level reactions as areas are ruled in or out; and any dated milestones in the selection procedure.
Links: World Nuclear News · Oct 29, 8:37 AM ET