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Saxony Seeks to Exclude Lausitz From Nuclear Repository Citing Astrophysics Center Plans

The request to Germany’s waste agency follows plans for a €1.2 billion DZA underground lab in the region.

Overview

  • Saxony’s science minister Sebastian Gemkow sent a letter on November 13 asking the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung to stop considering Lausitz for the national repository.
  • The BGE had previously identified the region as a potential area for further investigation in the site-selection process.
  • Officials argue the planned Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik in Lausitz makes the area unsuitable for storing high‑level nuclear waste.
  • The DZA plan envisions a major research center with an underground laboratory about 200 meters deep in the region’s low‑seismicity granite.
  • Lausitz is also linked to a bid for the European Einstein Telescope, with Sardinia and the Netherlands among other contenders, and no BGE response to the state’s request has been reported.