German police on Tuesday revealed that they had raided a Berlin restaurant after a trail of radioactive card fragments found at a waste treatment plant was traced back to the premises.

It was there that authorities uncovered and confiscated 13 other cards with traces of the radioactive substance iodine-125, a nuclide commonly used in medicine. A club center, karaoke bar, some offices and an apartment were searched.

Read more: German city of Aachen offers iodine tablets amid nuclear fears

According to the police, the woman was involved in a scheme to rig card games. One of the players would carry a detector under their clothing enabling them to identify certain cards. Police said they were investigating how much the fraudsters might have netted.

Reports suggest that the raided restaurant did not have a gambling license.

The 41-year-old suspect from Berlin's Marzahn-Hellersdorf district remains under investigation, and could face a fine and up to five years in prison.

Authorities played down the risk of any damaging health effects to those who came in contact with the cards. Even from half a meter away, the dose of radiation on the card could no longer be detected.

However, two local Berlin government agencies said that they had taken precautions by shutting the restaurant and contracting a specialist renovation company to have it cleaned.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany A new way forward? It has divided Germany for decades but now, it seems, an end could be in sight. A newly-formed commission will soon start working on a plan for a permanent nuclear waste storage site in Germany. So far, Gorleben, in Lower Saxony has been considered the country's number one proposed site, despite constant protests from environmentalists and locals.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany A temporary solution Dry cask storage containers, also sometimes known as castors, are left to cool in the current temporary storage facility near Gorleben. They contain spent nuclear fuel rods, stored in an inert gas for safety reasons. Their radioactivity will take many thousands of years to dissipate.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany The current problem There is currently no permanent storage facility for the radioactive byproducts of nuclear energy anywhere in the world, only facilities treated as temporary solutions. The Gorleben temporary storage site also currently holds waste imported from France, Europe's largest nuclear power producer, with the delivery trains frequently a site of public protests.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany Moving waste around A container with radioactive waste is moved to Gorleben in the German state of Lower Saxony. Often the transportation takes place at night, in order to minimise disruption and attention in the communities that the shipment is passing through. The event still remains a consistent headline-grabber in Germany.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany Protesters raise attention Protesters dress up at a protest to blockade a transport of nuclear waste into Gorleben. A 2012 survey showed that some 40 percent of Germans say that they wouldn't want to have a permanent nuclear waste storage site near their home.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany Re-using the salt mine A salt mine near Gorleben is currently being investigated as a permanent storage facility for nuclear waste. Concerns about radioactivity moving into the water table are just one of the reasons why local residents are unhappy about the site being considered.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany Environment minister in the spotlight He's been in office for less than a year but German Environment Minister Peter Altmeier has been under consistent pressure to get results on the issue of a permanent storage facility for nuclear waste. At the same time he's trying to push forward Germany's changeover to renewable energy, known domestically as the 'Energiewende'.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany The mistakes of the past Gorleben isn't the only nuclear waste storage site in Germany. Federal parliament recently approved a new regulation to clear the salt mine Asse II of 125,000 barrels of radioactive waste, although the project is yet to begin. The site, near Braunschweig, was used in the 1960s and 1970s to store waste from nuclear power plants. It is now completely sealed up.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany Concerns about drinking water In this archive photo, a worker takes a sample of dripping water in the Asse mine. Some think that the water here could be contaminated with leaking radioactive waste from rusting barrels of waste and for that reason a cleanout needs to be sped up. Visitors are now able to visit the site but are equipped with geiger counters.

Radioactive waste storage in Germany Nuclear power shutdown by 2020 All nuclear power plants in Germany are due to be shut down by 2020. The Neckarwestheim plant was closed down in 2011, following the catastrophe in Fukushima. Now, however, one of the power plants on the site is back functioning again. What ultimately happens to the spent fuel rods from the facility will stay uncertain until Germany settles on a permanent waste dump site. Author: André Leslie



dm/msh (AP, AFP)