Germany’s hidden leaking nuclear waste dump

Germany has a dirty little secret. In the middle of the country, deep underground, a radioactive waste dump has been leaking for decades. And nobody really knows what do to with it.

#planeta #nuclearwaste #asse

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Credits:
Reporter: Kiyo Dörrer
Video Editor: David Jacobi Camera, Henning Goll
Supervising Editors: Michael Trobridge, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Joanna Gottschalk
Fact-Check: Kirsten Funck
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon

Read more:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:33 The former salt mine at Asse
2:38 Going underground
5:28 The problem with the water
7:16 Instability of the mine
8:04 How could this happen?
10:40 The big removal
13:40 Local protest
15:04 Conclusion

[DWPlanetA]

Have you heard of Asse before? Do you know you of any similar cases from other parts of the world?

[mrkokolore]

4:26 Props to the DW Planet A team for showing and mentioning the radiation level or rather the lack thereof as well as the natural nuclear radiation coming from the environment naturally.

[RB-xqqh]

They literally just dumped it lol. Didnt stack or organize or nothing. Germany is wild

[Paulkjoss]

It seems so un-German to not keep detailed records, let alone not stack things efficiently- whats going on? 😅

[chincemagnet]

Nuclear waste in steel barrels, plus salt water. That was a big brained idea to use that site.

[gabberking]

As always Citizens and Tax payers will pay for the mess not the actual responsible organization.

[vincentgrinn]

its a real shame that nuclear waste has so much thought put into its disposal, and then gets so much flack for it

but coal power plants get to dump all of their waste into the air and regular garbage dumps like its nothing

[Diamonddavej]

Note that low level waste often contains no radioactive materials at all. This is due to very stringent safety standards, that means everything (except people, mostly) within the fence of a nuclear power plant, is, by default, classified as at least low level nuclear waste and cannot be put into municipal waste. This includes e.g. old computers, office chairs, lights, overalls, tools, shoes, floor tiles, even that sheet of paper that didn’t print properly. When we think nuclear power generates a lot of waste, we’re often misled by low level waste, that is often not actually radioactive.

[Waldemarvonanhalt]

Ok, so by the look of the containers, which are barrels: Only low- and medium-level waste get stored in barrels instead of concrete casks. Which means that it's effectively almost just regular trash, but underground.

[zanastumasonis]

without providing radioactivity levels, this could be blown out of proportion, it has been decaying and will continue to do so, depending on the waste, could be not as bad

[elsarm]

I have been working in this field in France, it is actually very possible to recycle nuclear waste, that was my job.

[ToeCutter]

this kind of reminds me of that series "Dark" that was on Netflix, it was a German series and some of the story revolved around illegally dumped/stored radioactive waste in a small town.

[lepustimidus]

This story is essential in understanding why Germans are so opposed to nuclear power.

[foxylovelace]

The show Dark makes a lot more sense now. The shady nuclear dealings really are a present issue in the minds of germans.

[TheRealSykx]

Yeah this issue has always been a later thing.. well later is eventually upon us

[stefanStefan-elix]

Radioactive waste from Germany was also brought to Eastern Europe...

[Psychobellic]

great so if there is an emergency while people are in the van, all oxygen is in the trunk lol

[Arthur-fi]

This gives “wir schaffen das” a whole new dimension🤷‍♂️🤣

[Egalitare]

The problem with nuclear waste is most contractors and governments ignore the cost (including security) involved in maintaining and properly containing radioactive waste. I’m not against nuclear power, but any assessment which doesn’t realistically account for spent fuel waste on a 500 year horizon is a generational and environmental failure.

[EstelonAgarwaen]

The road leading to the mine is part of one of my standard cycling training loops