Public broadcaster Tagesschau reports that in Germany’s ongoing search for a final repository for high-level nuclear waste, six more states — Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Berlin, Saxony, Hamburg, and Saarland — have just been eliminated as candidate sites. On the German-language forum Lemmy c/dach, this sparked sarcastic remarks like “since the site needs to stay safe for a million years, Bavaria is basically the only option left,” along with jokes about building it under the headquarters of the conservative CSU party or under State Premier Söder’s own house. Meanwhile, complaints about the mismanagement of the existing “Konrad mine” facility in Lower Saxony and even proposals to dump the waste in the Mariana Trench also surfaced, making for a discussion that mixed humor with genuine policy frustration.
The search for a final nuclear waste repository continues — several more states have now been ruled out. The eliminated states are Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Berlin, Saxony, Hamburg, and Saarland. From Tagesschau’s explainer article “Where a repository site is still possible.”
Honestly, I want Bavaria to get picked. I live in southeastern Bavaria myself, but if we can slam the waste site right in the face of every pro-nuclear cheerleader around here, it's worth it. Let's see if they still call nuclear power 'the best' after that.
3Anonymous2026-10-28 10:23
If a repository 'needs to stay safe for a million years,' then Bavaria really is the only state that qualifies. No other state has ever managed anything resembling 'permanence,' past or future.
4Anonymous2026-10-28 10:20
That's honestly how it should go… people are always fine with something as long as it's far from where they live. Best option, if you ask me: build it right underneath CSU headquarters in Munich.
13Anonymous2026-10-28 12:45
Praying it lands right across the street from King Markus's house (nickname for State Premier Söder).
5Anonymous2026-10-28 10:35
Re: #4 Re: 'best to put it under CSU headquarters in Munich' — sorry, no can do. That place is already pushing the legal radiation exposure limit as it is, there are just that many people hanging around who are 'already irradiated'!
6Anonymous2026-10-28 10:53
On the BGE's (Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal) map, northern Germany still has a lot of green zones (still in the running) — those have already cleared three rounds of review. Orange marks areas dropped in review phase 1, yellow marks ones dropped in phase 2. (map link/image included)
https://feddit.org/pictrs/image/4f8e7ab7-f7f9-481c-9b0f-977e7da2488b.jpeg
7Anonymous2026-10-28 10:22
Spare Lower Saxony, please — the 'Konrad mine' has been a disaster from the start and still is…
8Anonymous2026-10-28 10:47
Why not the Mariana Trench? Water's a great insulator, and the waste came out of this planet's crust in the first place anyway. Doubt anything down there is going to dredge it back up. Failing that, I nominate Markus Söder's basement.
11Anonymous2026-10-28 11:20
You know how microplastics work, right? Now picture the same thing, but with radioactive heavy metals.
12Anonymous2026-10-28 12:53
Micro-plutonium, nice. Just great.
9Anonymous2026-10-28 12:43
Go Bavaria, don't give up!
10Anonymous2026-10-28 11:40
Personally, I thought putting it underground at the old Tempelhof airfield site would've been pretty fun too.
14Anonymous2026-10-28 13:08
Re: #7 'Reveals serious problems and suggests the authorities dropped the ball' — total shocked-Pikachu-face moment right there.
Background and Key Points
Germany’s repository site selection is a long-term process under the 2017 Repository Site Selection Act, which narrows down candidate sites step by step using geological data; the decision was originally slated for 2031 but has faced repeated delays. The areas excluded this round failed to meet the required geological conditions, such as suitable salt or clay layers — a result of scientific review, not political maneuvering. The “site must remain safe for a million years” requirement raised in the thread is a real part of the actual guidelines, but posters repurposed it into the joke that “the only thing that ever lasts forever is conservative-party rule in Bavaria.” Bavaria, long cast as pro-nuclear, has a track record of strongly resisting hosting a repository within its own borders, and the thread’s satire plays on that contradiction. Worth flagging since it’s easy to misread: this exclusion is just one step in a multi-stage selection process, and no final repository location has actually been decided yet.
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