BASE welcomes innovative, open-ended research and closely monitors national and international developments. 

The ideas presented in the so-called implementation study by Transmutex, commissioned by the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D), are not fundamentally new and may initially seem appealing: transforming high-level radioactive waste in such a way that a deep geological repository would become unnecessary. 

BASE sees no practical feasibility 

However, based on the findings available so far, BASE does not consider this claim to be feasible. 

The proposed facility includes three components – a particle accelerator, a nuclear reprocessing plant and a novel reactor – none of which currently exist. The technological advancements required for successful implementation remain at the level of conceptual or, at most, laboratory studies. 

Studies commissioned by BASE have also shown that even in a hypothetical success scenario, a deep geological repository would still be necessary, even with transmutation technologies.