The 13th and final rail shipment carrying vitrified high-level nuclear waste (HLW) has reached the site of Germany’s intermediate storage facility in Philippsburg. This transport settles all commitments relating to contracts for the recycling of used fuel signed between Orano and German utilities, PreussenElektra, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall, since 1977.
From 1977 to 1991, contracts for the treatment of used fuel were signed with the four German electricity utility companies for the recycling of fuel elements from German nuclear reactors as well as the conditioning of residual waste. Some 5,310 tonnes of fuel were processed by Orano at its La Hague facility.
The recycling of German used nuclear fuel at La Hague was completed in 2008. The inter-governmental agreement governing those operations included a provision that shipments of HLW should be completed by 2011 and the return of long-lived intermediate-level waste no later than 2024.
According to a 2021 agreement between the French and German governments and the clauses provided for in the contracts between manufacturers, the parties undertook to apply the principle of equivalence in mass and radioactivity in the return of waste resulting from the processing of German used fuel. However, most of the radioactivity had previously been returned to Germany during prior shipments, between 1996 to 2011.
The 2021 agreement had two components. One concerned the transfer of ownership of 24 French reconditioned heavy casks to German utilities. As requested by the German companies, these empty casks were shipped to a US metal recycling plant. The other concerned the return of high-activity vitrified residues to the Philippsburg storage site in Germany. This waste was transported in four casks approved by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN – Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire) as meeting international safety standards. The aim was to respect the commitment made by all parties to have completed all waste returns before the end of 2024.
The Philippsburg interim storage facility (BZP – Brennelemente-Zwischenlager Philippsburg) in Baden-Württemberg went into operation with the emplacement of the first cask on 19 March 2007. The licence under the Atomic Energy Act for the storage of nuclear fuels in BZP expires 40 years after emplacement of the first cask. BGZ Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung mbH has been responsible for operating BZP since January 2019.
