Facing the Unknown: A Sociological Analysis of Non-Knowledge, Time and Procedural Dilemmas in Germany’s Site Selection for Nuclear Waste

Abstract. The selection for a repository site for high-level radioactive waste has experienced significant procedural delays, extending timelines into the 22nd century. This article examines these delays through a sociological lens, focusing on the interplay between non-knowledge, procedural logic, and temporal dimensions. It argues how non-knowledge, understood as a socially constructed and temporally dynamic phenomenon, creates a structural dilemma within the site selection procedure. Central to this dilemma is a tension between the procedure’s scientific legitimization, which demands continuous change in social configurations of knowledge and non-knowledge, and the need for procedural closure to enable binding decisions. Results of an empirical qualitative discourse analysis (SKAD) reveal conflicting temporalities of non-knowledge that potentially undermine the procedure’s capacity to conclude. Building on this, the article highlights how ongoing deferral actively shapes and constrains the futures of subsequent generations, drawing on sociological theories of temporal responsibility and the concept of timeprints. It concludes that addressing these challenges requires repositioning non-knowledge within the procedure, making explicit political decisions about acceptable unknowns, and embracing temporal responsibility beyond risk assessments. The findings underscore that delays are not merely technical or managerial issues regarding unknowns but reflect deeper socio-structural conditions demanding political and legal attention.