Parts of Saxony remain in the race for nuclear waste repository

In the search for a final storage site for Germany's nuclear waste, some areas of Saxony are still being considered as potentially suitable locations. According to the latest assessment by the Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE), smaller parts of the districts of Bautzen, Central Saxony, Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains and the Ore Mountains are among the particularly suitable areas that have passed the previous test steps for a possible final repository, according to the BGE. This also includes the area around Seiffen and Altenberg.

The BGE has identified such particularly suitable areas in various parts of Germany for the first time - including several regions in Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt in the Saale district. In total, 25 percent of Germany's land area is still suitable for a possible repository. Large parts of northern Germany in particular are still in the running for a site. One of the reasons for this is that large areas there have not yet been assessed. The BGE experts are sifting through more and more regions in a multi-stage process.

Most of Saxony not or only slightly suitable

For the majority of areas in Saxony, however, it is clear that they are either only very slightly suitable or not suitable at all for a repository. A smaller area between Gröditz and Laußnitz north of Dresden has yet to be assessed.

In mid-2026, the BGE plans to present a further interim status, and by the end of 2027 it intends to propose siting regions for above-ground exploration. The Bundestag will ultimately decide on the regions in question. The target date for the decision on a final repository is currently 2050.