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i am not sure why the german politicians think a salt dome is a good final waste storage. from wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org

Whatever the location, the basic choice of halite (rock salt) as a host rock for a final repository was a step which eliminated from the start any alternative locations such as the clay or granite formations favourised in other countries for this purpose. Specific exploratory geological drillings were carried out between 1979 and 1999, and from the early eighties the results showed that the Gorleben salt dome could actually be unsuitable because of its unstable roof rock and as it has contact with the groundwater.

One example of this instability is the "Gorleben Rut", a gully made by melting glacial ice which runs as low as 320 m below the surface directly above the dome. The gully is composed of sandy, gritty material which conducts groundwater. This means that the roof of the dome, expected to be several hundred metres thick and made of heavy Oligocene clay layers, does not exist in this form at this spot. According to the German Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) this is the minimum required for any location to be suitable as a final repository, following their definition of a "multi-barrier system". These clay layers have been destroyed from below by the diapir of the salt dome as it was forced upwards by tectonics, and from above by material being carried away and filled in by Ice Age glaciers.

Another discovery made by the exploratory drilling was that saliferous groundwater moves both from the sides and the top of the salt dome towards the surface, meaning that if it came into contact with highly radioactive material, the result would be a contamination of the biosphere. If groundwater is in contact with the halite, another factor to be reckoned with is subrosion, i.e. cavities developing due to salt leaching. This could cause the roof to collapse, or sinkholes to form on the surface of the earth. There are numerous examples of this happening in salt domes all across northern Germany, including a ten-kilometre-long, deep depression over the northeastern part of the Gorleben salt structure itself; in this depression, for example, the 1.75 square kilometre Rudower See lake and the Rambower See formed; the latter is now fenland.

In comparisons of the possible locations according to hydrogeological and geological criteria, Gorleben was judged the least suitable out of several salt domes. Some critics complained that the exploration was in fact a hidden attempt to build the storage unit. Despite the findings, further exploration has not been cancelled but only put on hold since 2000-10-01. This break, described as a "moratorium", is to provide time to sort out questions on the concept behind the final repository and its security.

Those in favour of Gorleben as a location for the dump have called for the moratorium to be lifted, to let further exploration go ahead; its opponents have demanded a comparison with several alternative halite locations, as is usually mandatory for large-scale plans. Furthermore, they consider the geological results so far to be convincing enough evidence that Gorleben is an unsuitable spot for a nuclear waste repository.

In 2010, Angela Merkel's center-right Federal Government lifted the moratorium and re-started the exploration process. Large-scale protests promptly resumed.

@MaryW on a normal public highway ? incredible.

@MaryW this highway seems a good beginning for blocking nuke waste transports. :)

@Peter it seems a salt dome is - before all - the cheapest solution.

Nuclear waste storage in salt: Explosion danger www10.antenna.nl

New evidence has been found that salt, if irradiated by nuclear waste, may become a high explosive. Professor H.W. den Hartog from Groningen University, the Netherlands, has studied the behavior of irradiated salt for 15 years. "If irradiated, salt is heated, explosive reactions occur," he said.

(508.4997) Herman Damveld - One of the scientific controversies concerning storage of nuclear waste in underground salt formations is the damage done by irradiation. If salt is irradiated by nuclear waste, it is partly converted into its elements: chlorine and sodium. .......

@MaryW @lillymunster does all the waste go to yucca mt ?

famous last words.

The German Castor protests made JP news! uni.2ch.net

also NHK www3.nhk.or.jp

@Edano they might but is a much more polite way. :-) I think if reactor restarts or something equally crazy gets dumped on someone's back doorstep they might take blockade type action.

they are taking lessons ..... :)