Like other countries that chose to generate electricity in nuclear reactors, the Czech Republic is facing the problem where to put the spent nuclear fuel. The dreams of its reuse as a raw material have gone up in smoke, so the world is burdened every year with thousands of tonnes of this highly dangerous waste, which has to stay isolated from the biosphere safely for hundreds of thousands of years to come. But who would want such a “neighbour”? Various European countries have differing attitudes to finding the solution. The Czech Republic is currently experiencing the culmination of the prolonged dispute between state officials and selected municipalities, and the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority in charge of the matter is intending to shortlist four sites for detailed geological surveys this year. Will it prioritise approving positions of municipal governments, or geological suitability, the latter meaning safety? And what if no ideal place is found?
The objective of the international conference NEC 2018 “Nuclear waste: Unwanted legacy of nuclear power” is to discuss, in the presence of international and Czech experts, the options of finding a solution to the nuclear waste problem without restricting citizens’ rights to defend their interests and those of future generations.
Current News:
11. June 2018 – The workshop “Knowledge preservation for nuclear waste repositories” took place in Prague on the eve of the Conference. It hosted Gabriele Mraz of the Austrian Institute of Ecology and David Reinberger of the Vienna Ombuds-Office for Environmental Protection. A study on the issue in the English language is now available.
18. April 2018 – A “Comparative analysis of Czech criteria for repository selection” was presented at the conference; it was made in 2017 by a team composed of Stefan Alt, Beate Kallenbach-Herbert and Veronika Ustohalova of Öko-Institut e.V. Darmstadt, Germany, critically reflecting on the attitude of the Czech Radioactive Waste Repository Authority. You can now read its Czech or German version.
13. April 2018 – NEC 2018 was loaded with information on management of spent nuclear waste and its deep storage. 116 participants from 11 countries were then able to compare the new concept of Germany and other countries with the attitude of Czech governmental authorities. This is a very hot topic in the Czech Republic, as the decision on the selection of four most convenient sites for the repository out of the nine potential ones should be made this year. Brief speeches by participants from Eastern Europe completed the information at the end of the conference. Browse through the presentation, or you can contact the speakers. You can get a feel of the conference atmosphere in the photogallery.
