The Rudjer Boskovic Institute (RBI) can in no way be a suitable location for the permanent storage of radioactive waste, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport decided at a meeting on Monday.
The meeting discussed the possibility of the Institute's experts becoming actively involved in the search for an appropriate site for radioactive waste storage, considering their expertise and long-standing experience in handling radioactive and other hazardous materials.
The meeting considered initiatives by civil society organisations to fully relocate the existing radioactive waste depot from the RBI and to restrict activities that were being undertaken there, such as using various sources of ionising radiation or substances that produce dangerous waste. This would protect the RBI staff and the people living near the Institute.
At the time of the Institute's foundation in the 1950s, that part of the city was not populated, unlike today, and only several dozen people worked there, compared to more than 800 today.
RBI Director Danica Ramljak said last week she would not sign a contract under which all radioactive waste from throughout the country would be stored at the RBI.
