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Erik Uden 🚩 , @ErikUden@mastodon.de
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Heute ist der Tag meines Besuchs des Atommüll Endlagers Konrad in Salzgitter. Der Schacht geht 1200m tief, und der Bereich den wir betreten wird über 35°C warm.

Jeder von uns bekommt eine Sauerstoffflasche für den Fall das wir verschüttet werden, da die Bergungsarbeiten ein paar Wochen dauern würde.

Wünscht mir Glück.

Erik Uden 🚩 , @ErikUden@mastodon.de
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A short while ago I was allowed to visit a long term nuclear waste storage facility, built to hold low and mid tier radioactive material for geological time (hundreds of thousands to a few million years).

I entered early in the morning and got into an elevator driving me 800 meters deep, with the complex tunnel system we toured going up to a kilometer down from the surface. I came up in the late afternoon a changed man due to what I've seen.

 An image of a group of 8 people in bright orange full body work suits standing close to the entrance of the underground long term nuclear waste storage facility called “Schacht Konrad” (mine Konrad) at about 800 meters deep. They are carrying key cards marking them as visitors and a flashlight around their neck, as well as a special device to allow breathing clean air for about an hour, in case we get trapped underground. From left to right the people here are: Ludwig Wasmus, as a representative of the working group Konrad (AG Konrad) Cem Ince, as a member of Bundestag from Die Linke in Salzgitter Erik Uden, as a member of the leadership council of Die Linke Lower-Saxony. He is the only one wearing a bow tie which is quite silly looking around considering they're in a mine in work clothes. Nicole Emektas, as the deputy chairwoman of Die Linke Lower-Saxony Thorben Peters, as the chairman of Die Linke Lower-Saxony Cayde Erdem, as a prominent figure within many organizations of Die Linke Lower-Saxony Jorrit Bosch, as a member of Bundestag from Die Linke in Braunschweig Marianne Neugebauer, as a representative of the working group Konrad (AG Konrad) The image was taken by Dennis Sabisch, also a prominent member of Die Linke and its youth organization.
An image of us walking through the tunnels of the long term nuclear storage facility located in Salzgitter, specifically an old iron mine. The path in front of us seems to stretch endless.
An image of all of present in the previous image standing at the entrance hole of the Konrad underground nuclear waste storage facility, exactly where the nuclear waste will be carried down to during the 40 year process of storing it here starting 2030. The two people wearing white clothing are managers of the BGE (federal company for radioactive waste disposal), specifically for the mine Konrad.
An image of Nicole Emektas, Cem Ince, Cayde Erdem and a worker from the BGE (federal company for radioactive waste disposal) being surrounded by darkness.

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@ErikUden
Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, burying deep underground seems to be the best solution to the current problem: all of this existing nuclear waste.

The alternative other countries have is more or less “do nothing”. So waste is either sitting in Spent Fuel Pools or in Dry Cask Storage. Both are onsite at the power plants themselves, scattered around the world, waiting for a natural disaster or failed government to be reintroduced to the environment in all the wrong ways.

The “do nothing” solution assumes the government and companies involved in the physical work of maintaining the safety of the waste will remain intact for millions of years until some new idea comes up.