Legal questions of managing high level radioactive waste

Basic legal issues

In the 1980s, there was a controversial debate in Germany about the constitutionality of the peaceful use of nuclear energy which also addressed the problem of radioactive waste disposal. Hasso Hofmann, a specialist of constitutional law and philosophy of law with high reputation, took the position that the use of nuclear energy was ethically irresponsible and unlawful from a constitutional law point of view (Hofmann 1981:286), relying to a major degree on arguments related to the problem of final disposal of high level radioactive waste. Hasso Hofmann was particularly concerned about the fact that, due to the long half-time of high level nuclear wastes, these wastes had to be deposited under strictly controlled conditions over a period of time the dimensions of which exceed human imagination, at least human calculation. Leaving such a nuclear legacy to hundred thousands of future generations whose needs, values, technological capabilities and political-administrative governance structures could not be predicted, was in Hasso Hofmann’s eyes ethically irresponsible and unconstitutional. Therefore he strongly pleaded for abandoning the use of nuclear energy. Other authors50 strongly opposed this view, arguing that the waste problem was technically and socially manageable.