Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel`s renewed call to seek an alternative to Gorleben as the site for a final repository is both unnecessary and utterly unjustifiable. All investigations carried out at the Gorleben salt dome to date indicate that Germany already has a suitable site for a repository for high active waste. In November 2005, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), an agency accountable to the Minister, also confirmed the suitability of rock salt as a host substrate for a repository. "The Federal Government should finally lift the Gorleben moratorium and finalize the exploratory work", stated Dr. Walter Hohlefelder, President of the German Atomic Forum.