Parliament wants the clarifications for a possible landfilling of high-level radioactive waste to be accompanied scientifically and internationally.
The Zurich Weinland region, with Benken in the background, is a possible location for a deep nuclear repository.
Opponents of nuclear power demonstrated in Marthalen on Sunday. They want to prevent a possible deep repository for highly radioactive waste in the Zurich Weinland. The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) considers the thick layer of waterproof Opalinus Clay underground to be suitable for this purpose.
For years, Nagra has also been investigating two other potential sites for a repository north of the storage areas in the border area of the cantons of Zurich and Aargau and further west in Aargau. Now the political temperature is rising, because in September Nagra will announce the specific location at which it will push ahead with the planning.
This is associated with further extensive safety clarifications. In an urgent postulate, the SP and the Greens demand that the canton of Zurich strengthen the scientific monitoring of this process. In particular, the experts consulted should be more independent and international.
The canton is not yet sufficiently equipped for this demanding task, they wrote in the justification. His human resources were not sufficient to appraise Nagra’s complex and extensive evaluation reports.
First signatory Wilma Willi (Greens, Stadel) assumes that Nagra will choose one of the two locations on Zurich soil. Then the canton will play a decisive role in the further procedure, she said on Monday when the council dealt with her advance. She credited the government with opposing the construction of the so-called packaging plant for radioactive waste on the surface in the canton of Zurich.
The bourgeois side accused the postulants of not questioning the location, but the repository itself. Sibylle Jüttner (SP), new cantonal councilor from Andelfingen, said that if all the facts spoke for the wine country, such a decision would be acceptable. Nathalie Aeschbacher (GLP, Zurich) reminded that in the end not the canton of Zurich but the whole of Switzerland would decide in a referendum. For Konrad Langhart (centre, Stammheim), the discussion about new nuclear power plants has also opened up the question of waste storage.
For SVP and FDP, the advance comes at the wrong time. There is shadow boxing, said Christian Lucek (SVP, Dänikon). Alex Gantner (FDP, Maur) added that Nagra’s decision is currently awaited. Incidentally, the canton has always made a competent contribution to this topic.
The government was ready to accept the proposal. Construction Director Martin Neukom (Greens) made it clear that Nagra only decides where to carry out further investigations. The actual location decision is made by the Federal Council. The canton of Zurich has been supporting the search for a deep repository for a long time together with the cantons of Aargau, Schaffhausen and Thurgau.
Specialist discussions are desired, which increases the quality of the clarifications, said Neukom. His experts told him that Nagra’s experts would listen. Thanks to the support of the EPP and Mitte, the Council clearly passed the postulate by 96 votes to 71.