Gorleben
| Gorleben | |
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 Gorleben
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Location of Gorleben within Lüchow-Dannenberg district
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| Coordinates: 53°02′53″N 11°21′20″E / 53.04806°N 11.35556°ECoordinates: 53°02′53″N 11°21′20″E / 53.04806°N 11.35556°E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Lower Saxony |
| District | Lüchow-Dannenberg |
| Municipal assoc. | Gartow |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Herbert Krüger (WG) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 21.25 km2 (8.20 sq mi) |
| Population (2015-12-31) | |
| • Total | 625 |
| • Density | 29/km2 (76/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Postal codes | 29475 |
| Dialling codes | 05882 |
| Vehicle registration | DAN |
| Website | www.gorleben.de |
Gorleben is a small municipality (Gemeinde) in the Gartow region of the Lüchow-Dannenberg district in the far north-east of Lower Saxony, Germany, a region also known as the Wendland.
Gorleben was first recorded as a town by the rulers of Dannenberg in 1360; there was a fort on the site. The name "Gorleben" probably comes from Goor ("silt"; in Slavic, however, Gor means "mountain") and leben ("heritage").
Gorleben is known as the site of a controversial radioactive waste disposal facility, currently used as an intermediate storage facility but planned to serve with the salt dome Gorleben as a future deep final repository for waste from nuclear reactors. It has attracted frequent protests from environmentalists since the 1970s.
The small town is directly on the left bank of the Elbe river, about 20 metres above sea level. The Elbe river landscape spreads out to the east, north and northwest, protected as the Lower Saxon Elbe Valley Leas biosphere reserve. To the south, a large area of pine forest adjoins it, the Gartower Tannen. This is the largest contiguous privately owned forest in Germany, owned by Graf Bernstorff of Gartow, and is on a large hilly area which grew out of wind-borne sand in a periglacial process.
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