Brokdorf interim storage facility

The Brokdorf interim storage facility in Schleswig-Holstein near Glückstadt on the River Elbe went into operation with the emplacement of the first CASTOR V/19 type cask on 5 March 2007. The licence under the Atomic Energy Act for the storage of nuclear fuels in the Brokdorf interim storage facility expires 40 years after emplacement of the first cask. BGZ has been responsible for operating the Brokdorf interim storage facility since 1 January 2019.

The interim storage facility is located within the confines of the Brokdorf nuclear power plant site. This means that CASTOR casks only need to be moved a short distance from the reactor building to the interim storage facility and that no public roads need to be used. The interim storage facility grounds are located on an around 1.2 hectare fenced-in area on the roughly 25-hectare overall site.

The interim storage facility essentially includes a reception and storage area in the storage building, the operating area in the facility building and in the storage building as well as the access road with gate system and the perimeter fence. The storage building has a capacity of over 100 spaces and is approximately 93 metres long, 27 metres wide and 23 metres high. The storage area covers a total area of approximately 1,650 m². Around 950 m² of this area are actually used for storage purposes. The reception and storage areas, as well as parts of the operating area, are located in the interim storage facility’s storage building.

The Brokdorf interim storage facility will receive reprocessed waste from outside Germany. The concept agreed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, energy utilities and federal states for the return of vitrified intermediate and high-level radioactive waste from reprocessing in France and the United Kingdom to Germany will ensure that returned casks are fairly distributed to various interim storage facilities throughout Germany. 20 casks from the United Kingdom and 5 from France will be distributed to 4 on-site interim storage facilities: Philippsburg in Baden-Württemberg (five casks containing intermediate-level radioactive waste block canisters), Biblis in Hesse (six casks with high-level radioactive waste block canisters), Brokdorf in Schleswig-Holstein (seven casks with high-level radioactive waste block canisters) and Isar in Bavaria (seven casks with high-level radioactive waste block canisters).

More information about the return of radioactive waste from reprocessing is available here.