Tasks performed by BASE

Source: BASE

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) performs regulatory, licensing and supervisory tasks for the German government in relation to the disposal, storage, handling and transport of high-level radioactive waste. BASE supports and advises the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection on issues related to nuclear disposal and nuclear safety. It also conducts and coordinates research in its subject fields.

Growing tasks for a growing public authority

The central challenges faced by BASE not only include the upcoming, demanding, socio-political tasks – such as the search for a disposal site for high-level radioactive waste, but also the ongoing and ambitious development of what is still a young public authority.

BASE took over the specialist personnel from two departments of its predecessor authority, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), at the beginning of 2017: the department for licensing procedures for transporting and storing nuclear waste as well as the department for nuclear safety. The other departments, those required to search for a new disposal site for radioactive waste, for research and for administration, were established from scratch. BASE is gradually setting up working structures and continues to hire more specialist personnel.

While this development is ongoing, BASE has already been entrusted with statutory tasks – following the commencement of the amended Site Selection Act in May 2017 in particular. Once the law came into force, BASE immediately set up interdisciplinary working groups to meet its requirements. This applies to safeguarding potential sites, according to Section 21, for example, or establishing the information platform on the Internet, according to Section 6 of the law. A skeleton version of the BASE website was made available on the day the law came into effect. It has been operating as an independent website at https://infoplattform-endlagersuche.de since the end of April 2020. It provides transparent information about the search for a disposal site and makes important documents such as expert reports, data pools or reports available in a document folder.

BASE’s tasks

The Atomic Energy Act describes and stipulates BASE’s tasks. BASE

• monitors the site selection procedure during the search for a final repository for high-level radioactive waste and organises public participation,
• is responsible for procedures in mining and water law and the Atomic Energy Act related to the disposal of radioactive waste,
• supervises the final repositories for radioactive waste under the Atomic Energy Act,
• examines applications for licences for interim storage sites and the transport of nuclear fuels under the Atomic Energy Act,
• is responsible for the state’s storage of nuclear fuels; (it also issues rulings according to Section 5 Paragraph 7 Sentence 1 of the Atomic Energy Act),
• is responsible for the long-term documentation of all official papers and data, which are important for storing and disposing of nuclear waste,
• makes available its expertise for issues related to nuclear safety,
• conducts research in these areas and is involved in international cooperation.

The site selection procedure: public participation and state supervision

BASE supervises the search for a final repository for high-level radioactive waste. Its responsibility is to lay the foundations and determine the general conditions for public participation, as provided by the Site Selection Act . The tasks comprise the following:

• the specification of exploration programmes for sites above and below ground based on suggestions made by the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE or the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal),
• ensuring that the site selection procedure and the exploration work meet the criteria and requirements of the Site Selection Act,
• informing the general public about the state of the search procedure,
• organising and coordinating the participation procedure in the search for the site,
• checking mining projects in cooperation with with the federal states to safeguard possible suitable repository sites,
• suggesting the site for a final repository for high-level radioactive waste.

Procedures related to nuclear disposal in Mining and Water law and the Atomic Energy Act

BASE is responsible for approval procedures under mining and water law and the Atomic Energy Act as well as permits for the final storage of radioactive waste. These tasks are legally enshrined at federal level. Individual regulations were created for already existing disposal projects, which had previously been under the responsibility of various federal states. The tasks related to the Konrad mine will be transferred from the State of Lower Saxony to the Federal Government once the operation of the final repository is approved. As far as the Morsleben repository is concerned, the licensing responsibility will pass from the state of Saxony-Anhalt to BASE as soon as the planning permission process has been completed. In the case of the Asse II mine, the responsibilities will remain with the state of Lower Saxony.

BASE is also the responsible authority for the planning procedure related to the future final repository for high-level radioactive waste.

Oversight of final repositories for radioactive waste under the Atomic Energy Act

BASE supervises and monitors the operation of existing repositories. This currently involves:

• the Morsleben repository,
• the Asse II mine,
• the Konrad mine, which is being converted into the first final repository for low- and medium-level radioactive waste approved under the Atomic Energy Act.

BASE ensures compliance with the safety rules stipulated in the Atomic Energy Act throughout the construction, operation and decommissioning of sites. This role of nuclear regulatory oversight at federal level was newly created. Repositories are also being monitored based on other statutory regulations. This includes the supervision under mining law. These tasks remain within the remit if the individual federal states.

Approval of transport and storage

In accordance with the Atomic Energy Act, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management is responsible for licensing the following:

• transports of spent fuel elements from nuclear power stations or radioactive waste from reprocessing (so-called CASTOR transport operations)
• transports of major sources of radioactivity (not only fuel rods, but radioactive materials that exceed a certain level of activity) and
• interim storages for high-level radioactive waste.

Nuclear safety

According to the law, the last nuclear power stations in Germany are due to be shut down in 2022 at the latest. Safe operation must be ensured and further developed until then and also throughout the decommissioning of the facilities. The experts at BASE are members of various safety committees at national and international level and advise the German government. On behalf of the government, BASE also manages a central incident registration centre for accidents and events at nuclear facilities.

Research

To be able to execute its tasks in line with the scientific and technological state-of-the-art, BASE as a federal research institute also engages in academic work. The office initiates and supports research projects in the field of nuclear disposal safety and conducts its own research. This involves aspects from the natural sciences, technology as well as social sciences.