Germany narrows nuclear waste repository search to under 5% of its land, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt stay in

A much smaller search area

The Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) published its latest working status on 27 October 2026, the last in this form, according to BGE managing director Iris Graffunder. Less than 5% of Germany's territory now remains under consideration for a deep repository for high-level radioactive waste. The candidate areas lie mainly in a belt from West Lower Saxony to Saxony-Anhalt, with individual areas in southern Brandenburg, western Baden-Württemberg, eastern Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein. The search began in 2020 with 90 partial areas covering about 54% of federal territory, and about 25% remained under review in 2025.

Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein

In Saxony-Anhalt, rock salt areas in flat and steep layers, plus parts of the Harz, stay under study, while the clay areas have been assessed and no longer receive focus. Newly added areas lie in the Salzlandkreis, the Börde and the Altmark. Lisa Seidel, head of site selection at the BGE, said the search seeks what she called "langweilige Geologie" (boring geology), meaning regions where the subsurface has changed little over long periods. In Schleswig-Holstein, areas in the Glückstadt Graben run from near Bad Bramstedt and Boostedt to Lägerdorf, Sterup and Albersdorf. Geologists and the commission will examine these until the end of 2027, after which the BASE is to receive more concrete regions for surface exploration.

Baden-Württemberg keeps two Black Forest sites

Four areas in the state were under review until now, and two have dropped out. The areas around Ulm and Heidelberg moved into category B ("geeignet", suitable) and are no longer candidates. Two areas in the Schwarzwald remain, one in the northern and one in the southern part, and both can still reach category A (best suitability). Crystalline rock, a kind of granite, was decisive for both, because it is especially stable. The northern area stretches between Lautenbach and Enzklösterle, and the southern one lies near Schönwald.

Bavaria: granite stays in, Fichtelgebirge out

The Fichtelgebirge massif around Schneeberg and Ochsenkopf has been dropped, because fractures are likely there and the suitable rock layers are thinner than elsewhere. Clay layers on the border with Baden-Württemberg are also out, since the geologists suspect sand and silt inclusions and groundwater flows above them. Granite in the Bayerischer Wald and in the Upper Palatinate near Schwandorf and Weiden remains in the procedure. The district of Cham stays in for now, and its Landrat Christian Schindler (Freie Wähler) said he wants to monitor the review critically, calling the tourism-shaped district a rather unfavourable site himself.

Bavaria's environment minister Thorsten Glauber (Freie Wähler) renewed his demand to remove granite formations from the procedure entirely. He argued that granite cannot contain waste on its own and needs additional containers as a barrier, which Bavaria rejects as a solution pursued abroad.

“No one can guarantee that containers will stay sealed for one million years.”

Criticism and next steps

The BUND in Schleswig-Holstein, speaking through spokesperson Sina Clorius, fears the choice will rest on political grounds, namely where the least resistance is expected, rather than on science. The BGE aims to name a site by 2050, and the Bundestag makes the final decision on its location. In one year, the BGE plans to name the handful of regions to be studied in more depth.