Federal collection facility – new waste treatment centre
Villigen, 22.10.2026 — The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI operates the federal collection facility for radioactive waste in accordance with the Swiss Radiation Protection Ordinance. In the coming years, a new building for this purpose will be realised on the PSI campus. The project, named SamBA, began in 2023; the new building is scheduled to be operational by 2033.
Some of the waste generated in medicine, industry, and research (MIR) is radioactive. The federal collection facility for this waste is operated by the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI on its own campus. In accordance with the Swiss Radiation Protection Ordinance (Articles 119 and 120), it is the receiving point for all radioactive waste subject to mandatory disposal that does not result from the use of nuclear energy. At the federal collection facility, PSI specialists receive the radioactive MIR waste, process it safely, and store it temporarily. PSI has been commissioned by the federal government to provide suitable infrastructure for this purpose. After nearly 60 years of operation, the existing infrastructure and the installed technical equipment for processing the radioactive waste will reach the end of their service life in the medium term and therefore must be replaced.
To realise a replacement building, PSI launched the SamBA project (an acronym of the German name “Sammelstelle des Bundes – neues Abfallbehandlungszentrum”, meaning “federal collection facility – new waste treatment centre”) in early 2023. Since then, different project phases have included, among other things, a thorough analysis of waste streams and, on this basis, the definition of requirements and framework conditions for a new building. A feasibility study demonstrated that the construction of a new waste treatment centre for radioactive MIR waste on the existing site of the radioactive waste disposal facilities AERA at PSI is both necessary and feasible. As the project moved forwards, the necessary documentation for a framework permit application was prepared and submitted to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) in March 2026.
The application is currently under review by the authorities. The review process, culminating in a political decision by the Federal Council and Parliament, is expected to be completed in 2030.
In the meantime, the PSI is advancing the important SamBA project in collaboration with the authorities involved, the Canton of Aargau, and the municipalities of Villigen and Würenlingen, in order to replace the existing infrastructure as quickly as possible.
PSI anticipates that the new waste treatment centre will be operational in 2033.
As a hub for knowledge and competence in the fields of radiation measurement, radiation protection, decommissioning, and disposal, PSI ensures that treatment, disposal, and interim storage of all of Switzerland’s radioactive MIR waste will continue to be carried out reliably, safely, and professionally.
Text: Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Knut Hirtzel and Roland Wagner
About PSI
The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is the largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland. It is the central location of Switzerland’s large research facilities, available to both the scientific community and industry. Its research spans future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation and fundamentals of nature. The annual budget is CHF 450 million. PSI employs 2300 people; around a quarter of these are postdoctoral researchers, PhD students or apprentices. PSI is part of the ETH Domain, which also includes ETH Zurich and ETH Lausanne, as well as the other federal research institutes Empa, Eawag and WSL.
Contact
Roland Wagner
SamBA Project Leader
PSI Center for Corporate Services
Paul Scherrer Institute PSI
+41 56 310 45 91
roland.wagner@psi.ch
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