Settlements and compensation

Decommissioning and disposal

Successful site search

The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) has found it: Nördlich Lägern, the safest and most suitable site for the deep geological repository. In 2022, it presented the public with the results of an extensive search process over many years under the leadership of the federal government. At the end of 2024, it submitted the general license applications for a fuel element packaging facility (BEVA) at the site of the central interim storage facility (Zwilag) in Würenlingen and for the deep geological repository (gTL) with surface infrastructure in Stadel.

Independent procedure

With a view to the planned realization of the fuel element packaging plant and the deep geological repository, the companies responsible for waste disposal (EPU) have begun to prepare negotiations on financial compensation and offsetting (A&C) for the affected municipalities and the region of the deep geological repository. The procedure corresponds to the federal government's "Deep Geological Repository Sectoral Plan". This states that compensation and trade-offs between the municipalities in the deep geological repository region, the siting cantons and the companies responsible for disposal are to be regulated in the current, final stage of the sectoral plan (Stage 3).

The negotiation process for compensation and offsets is conducted independently of the procedures for obtaining Nagra's general licenses. Swissnuclear represents the companies responsible for waste disposal (Axpo Power AG, BKW Energie AG, Kernkraftwerk Gösgen-Däniken AG, Kernkraftwerk Leibstadt AG) and acts as the negotiating organization.

Recognition of the contribution to a task for society as a whole

The amount and payment modalities of the compensation will be determined in the negotiations. The voluntary payments by the companies responsible for waste disposal are made in recognition of their contribution to a task for society as a whole and are intended to compensate for any effects of the future deep geological repository on the region, insofar as they are not already covered by statutory compensation.

Partnership as a goal

Cooperation between the parties involved in the negotiations should be based on the principles of comprehensibility, transparency and partnership. These principles are reflected in the already good neighborly relations between the operators of nuclear facilities and their siting municipalities. One example of this is the Zwilag site agreement with the municipality of Würenlingen.

Two-pillar model

The recipients of A&K are the infrastructure municipalities and other municipalities in the gTL region within a so-called impact perimeter. This represents the area with a functional connection to the planned gTL.

swissnuclear has developed a two-pillar model for the payment of A&C for the promotion of regional development and the infrastructure communities. The aim of swissnuclear is a framework agreement and fully negotiated contracts for regional promotion and for the compensation of the infrastructure communities.

Successful initial contacts and start of the negotiation phase

Over the past few months, swissnuclear has made contact with the parties involved in the negotiation process and held initial talks. The meetings to date have been mainly of an organizational nature and have allowed us to get to know each other.

Representatives from various municipalities, the cantons of Zurich, Aargau, and Schaffhausen, the state of Baden-Württemberg, the district of Waldshut-Tiengen, the Federal Office of Energy, and the companies responsible for waste disposal have been involved in the exchange so far.

In accordance with the guidelines jointly developed in 2017, the companies responsible for waste disposal are striving to develop a joint, long-term sustainable solution. This makes careful preparation for the negotiation phase, which began at the end of 2025, all the more important.

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More information

Negotiation framework ("guideline") for the negotiation process of settlements / compensation

Q&A - Settlements and compensation

What are settlements and compensations?

The two terms are defined as follows in the "Sectoral Plan for Deep Geological Repositories":

Compensation payments are payments that a siting region receives for its contribution to solving a task for society as a whole. They are voluntary and are based on contractual agreements between the companies responsible for waste disposal and the siting region. There is no legal basis for compensation payments.
Compensation is used to compensate for demonstrably negative impacts on the region caused by the planning, construction or operation of a deep geological repository. They are negotiated with the siting region and the siting canton and financed by the companies responsible for disposal. In this case, too, there is no statutory regulation.

Is there an entitlement to settlements and compensation?

There is neither a statutory right to compensation nor a statutory obligation. These are voluntary payments made by the companies responsible for waste disposal.

How much money can the municipalities expect? How are the payments processed?

The amount of settlements and compensation and the payment modalities are the subject of negotiations. No details can be provided at this time. This would pre-empt the negotiation process and contradict a sustainable solution worked out in partnership.

In connection with settlements and compensation, there is always talk of a guideline. What is meant by this?

How the compensation negotiations should proceed was set out in 2017 in a guideline drawn up by ETH Zurich under the leadership of the SFOE and with the involvement of companies, cantons, municipalities and German stakeholders with disposal obligations. The guidelines cover various points relating to negotiations on compensation and offsetting. Although the guidelines are not legally binding, they provide a good basis for the upcoming negotiations and can be used as a guide.

What is the sectoral plan for deep geological repositories?

Information on the Sectoral Plan for Deep Geological Repositories can be found on the website of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE): Sectoral Plan.