The storage area, a former subterranean salt mine research operation, has been found unstable
By Sarah Wolfe
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Germany has a “major scientific and technological challenge” on its hands, according to the nation’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The government has ordered the Schacht Asse II radioactive waste disposal facility to remove thousands of barrels after a salt dome was determined to be unstable.
Roughly 126,000 barrels filled with low-level radioactive waste including contaminated clothes, paper and equipment will be brought to the surface for alternative storage, according to World Nuclear News. Rather than storing these contents in highly-secured landfills, Asse began putting the barrels down in tunnels and caverns from past salt mining research activity in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, the salt mine network has become unstable and allowed in groundwater. Further investigation of several other levels with waste vaults will be carried out in the near future and appropriate action taken.
Learn more at:
World Nuclear News
(Edited by Gabe Perna)