{"id":797,"date":"2022-03-25T11:40:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T11:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerndd.live-website.com\/?page_id=797"},"modified":"2023-07-25T20:12:18","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T20:12:18","slug":"disposal","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kernd.de\/en\/entsorgung\/","title":{"rendered":"Disposal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disposal of radioactive waste<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Final disposal<\/a><\/p>

Vox Pop: Final disposal<\/a><\/p>

Vox Pop: Final storage issues<\/a><\/p>

Video of the GNS Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Nuklear-Service mbH: Film \"The Castor is coming...\"<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Final disposal of highly radioactive waste<\/a><\/p>

Disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive materials<\/a><\/p>

Interim storage of radioactive waste in Germany<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The transport of radioactive substances<\/a><\/p>

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Information platform on the search for a repository<\/a><\/div>
Final report of the Commission on the Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste<\/a><\/div>
Act on the search for and selection of a site for a repository for heat-generating radioactive waste<\/a><\/div>
Bundesgesellschaft f\u00fcr Endlagerung (BGE): Repository\/search for a repository<\/a><\/div>
Reorganisation of financing (BMWi)<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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July 2017<\/p>

The advantages of reliable and clean energy generation through nuclear fission are offset by the challenge of safe final storage of the radioactive end products. In Germany, the exploration, construction and operation of repositories are the responsibility of the state. The costs of disposal are borne by the waste producers. In the case of nuclear power plants, this is done by paying the funds earmarked for this purpose plus a risk premium of 35 per cent into the \"Fund for the Financing of Nuclear Waste Disposal\", which was established as a foundation under public law with the Waste Disposal Fund Act. The total amount transferred to the Nuclear Waste Management Fund at the beginning of July 2017 is around 24.1 billion euros. In future, the costs of interim and final storage, including site selection, will be borne from the fund's resources, which it manages itself.<\/p>

Like the majority of vitrified waste from reprocessing, the spent fuel elements produced during electricity generation in nuclear power plants are classified as highly radioactive materials. They make up around 10 per cent of the waste volume, but contain more than 99 per cent of the total radioactive inventory.<\/p>

Over 90 per cent of the volume of radioactive waste produced in Germany is low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. Around two thirds of this waste comes from the operation and dismantling of nuclear power plants and from the nuclear industry, for example used protective clothing, filters, tools or disused plant components. The remainder comes from research, industrial processes and the medical use of radionuclides.<\/p>

In addition, the\u00a0<\/span>National waste management programme<\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of the Federal Government (NaPro), two further categories of possible waste are mentioned as a precautionary measure, which have a special status, as it is not certain whether they will actually be produced as waste. The first is depleted uranium, which is produced during uranium enrichment in Gronau. This low-level radioactive material is a recyclable material and can be stored in a chemically stable form without causing any harm. As a recyclable material, it can be returned to the enrichment process to produce further uranium 235, and the main component, uranium 238, can be used in future reactor generations, possibly outside Germany, to generate electricity.<\/p>

The other category comprises the radioactive waste that is to be retrieved from the Asse II mine. The retrieval was legally prepared with the \"Act to Accelerate the Retrieval of Radioactive Waste and the Decommissioning of the Asse II Mine\" of April 2013 and has since been organised by the operators BfS\/Asse GmbH and now under the umbrella of the\u00a0<\/span>Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE)<\/a><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>prepared. However, as the retrieval process is complex and time-consuming and involves considerable risks due to the mining situation in the Asse, it cannot be assumed with certainty that the waste will actually be retrieved. The Konrad repository is not intended for these two types of potential radioactive waste.<\/p>

Finally, a further category of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste could also have to be disposed of, which is not suitable for emplacement in the Konrad repository due to the time of its generation or due to special nuclide compositions and\/or its chemical composition. It is not yet possible to predict whether such waste will be produced at all.<\/p>

Certain geological properties are necessary for the long-term safe storage of waste. There is an international consensus that high-level radioactive waste should be stored in deep geological formations in order to isolate it permanently. This disposal path is also being pursued in Germany. Possible host rocks are salt, clay or granite. The search takes place at depths of at least 300 metres below ground level. The aim of deep geological disposal is to rule out harmful effects on humans and the environment for long periods of time. In addition, seismic and geological conditions as well as the insulation capacity of the rock must be right. Germany has also decided to store low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste deep underground.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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July 2017<\/p><\/div>

Interim storage - an important link in the chain<\/h2><\/div>
\"\"Nuclear power generation, industrial processes, research and medicine generate radioactive waste that is stored in interim storage facilities until final repositories are established. In terms of the type of waste, a distinction is made between highly radioactive material with heat generation - such as spent fuel elements from nuclear power generation - and medium or low-level radioactive waste with negligible heat generation.<\/div>
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Radioactive waste is stored in various interim storage facilities in Germany: in addition to the three central facilities in Gorleben, Ahaus and Lubmin, there are twelve storage facilities at the nuclear power plant sites and eleven interim storage facilities operated by industry and research institutions. In addition, there are twelve state collection centres, which mainly accept waste from medicine, industry and research. The interim storage of radioactive waste in Germany is an important link in the disposal chain until it is transferred to the Konrad repository for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste, which will be ready for operation in the 1920s, and until a repository for high-level radioactive waste becomes available. Until all casks containing radioactive material can be transferred to their final repository, they will be stored safely in the interim storage facilities. With the container concepts and the structural measures at the respective sites, Germany not only fulfils international standards for the protection of people and the environment, but is also a pioneer in safety technology in many areas.<\/p><\/div>

Responsibilities<\/span><\/h2><\/div><\/div>

The handling of radioactive material is fundamentally regulated by the Radiation Protection Act (StrlSchG) and the Atomic Energy Act (AtG). These regulate the principles and requirements for precautionary and protective measures that apply to the use and exposure to radioactive substances and ionising radiation of civilisational and natural origin. The disposal of radioactive waste is regulated by law. In the case of interim storage of radioactive waste, the interim storage facilities, the containers and the storage must be authorised separately by the relevant competent authority.<\/p>

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Type of waste<\/h2><\/div>

A distinction is made between two types of radioactive waste. On the one hand, there is the highly radioactive heat-generating waste, which includes the fuel elements from the reactors. This accounts for around ten per cent of the volume of nuclear waste produced, but contains 99 per cent of the total radioactivity.<\/p>

The remaining 90 per cent of nuclear waste is low and intermediate-level radioactive. It is produced, for example, during work in nuclear power plants - such as protective clothing, tools or filters - or during their dismantling. Medicine, research and industry also use so-called radionuclides, which must be disposed of properly as radioactive waste after use.<\/p>

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Storage of waste<\/h2><\/div>
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The first stop on the disposal route for spent fuel elements is storage in the spent fuel pool in the reactor building. They are stored in the water-filled pool until their radioactivity and heat production have decayed to such an extent that they can be transferred to transport and storage containers and then stored in the interim storage facilities at the nuclear power plant sites.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The casks ensure the safe containment of the radioactive substances. The CASTOR\u00ae casks are equipped with a constantly monitored double-lid sealing system to prevent releases.<\/p>

The containers are designed to withstand even extreme external influences, such as transport accidents, fire or an aircraft crash. They therefore fulfil the high requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) global dangerous goods criteria.<\/p>

Low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste is stored in the interim storage facilities in steel drums, MOSAIK\u00ae casks and containers, depending on activity and volume, until it is transferred to the Konrad repository.<\/p><\/div>

BGZ Company for interim storage<\/h2><\/div>

In connection with the reorganisation of responsibility for nuclear waste management, it was agreed that the central interim storage facilities in Gorleben and Ahaus, the decentralised interim storage facilities for spent fuel elements at the nuclear power plant sites and the waste storage facilities for low- and intermediate-level waste would be taken over and managed by the BGZ. The BGZ, which is wholly owned by the federal government, will then be responsible for the safe storage of the waste until it is transferred to the designated final repositories. On 1 August 2017, BGZ took over the central interim storage facilities in Gorleben and Ahaus, with the on-site interim storage facilities to follow on 1 January 2019 and the waste storage facilities on 1 January 2020. The operators will remain responsible for the proper conditioning of the waste and its provision in the appropriate containers.<\/p><\/div>

Centralised interim storage<\/h2><\/div>

The three centralised interim storage facilities in Gorleben (Lower Saxony), Ahaus (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) are used for the interim storage of highly radioactive waste, among other things.<\/p><\/div>

<\/span><\/span>Gorleben interim storage facility<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div>

In addition to the much better-known Gorleben salt dome, which was explored as a repository for highly radioactive waste from 1979 to 2000 and from 2010 to 2012 and is currently being kept open for possible consideration in the site selection process, the municipality in Wendland is also home to an interim storage facility for storing spent fuel elements from nuclear power plants and highly radioactive waste from reprocessing. In connection with the Site Selection Act (StandAG), no further reprocessing waste may be delivered to the Gorleben transport cask storage facility. This waste must be transported to interim storage facilities at the nuclear power plant sites. The medium-level radioactive waste from the French reprocessing plant La Hague is to be stored at the Philippsburg site, while the remaining 21 containers with high-level radioactive waste from the British reprocessing plant Sellafield will be divided equally between the interim storage facilities at the Biblis, Brokdorf and Isar sites. The Gorleben waste storage facility is also operated at the site. Waste with negligible heat generation is stored here, mainly from the operation of German nuclear power plants.<\/p>

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Ahaus interim storage facility<\/strong>
The Ahaus interim storage facility is located on the territory of the town of Ahaus in western M\u00fcnsterland. In addition to spent fuel elements, low and medium-level radioactive waste is also stored in Ahaus.\u00a0<\/p>

Interim storage north near Lubmin<\/strong>
<\/strong>The state interim storage facility North near Lubmin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was originally used to store radioactive waste from the decommissioned nuclear power plants of the GDR. Today, fuel elements from nuclear power plants and research facilities as well as the research vessel \"Otto Hahn\" are stored directly on the site of the former Greifswald nuclear power plant. The Interim Storage Facility North also serves as an emergency storage facility. If, for example, unauthorised nuclear fuel was found during border controls, it would be sent to Lubmin for interim storage. No change of operator is planned for the Interim Storage Facility North; it will continue to be operated by the federally owned\u00a0<\/span>Nuclear Waste Management Plant GmbH (EWN)<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>operated.<\/p><\/div>

Decentralised interim storage<\/h2><\/div>
\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Interim storage facilities at nuclear power plant sites<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Since 2005, the transfer of spent fuel elements abroad for reprocessing has been prohibited. At the same time, the nuclear power plant operators were obliged to set up interim storage facilities for fuel elements at the nuclear power plant sites. The operators complied with this obligation following extensive authorisation procedures. In addition to the interim fuel element storage facilities, there are also on-site waste storage facilities at some sites that are intended for planned or ongoing dismantling projects.<\/p><\/div>

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<\/a><\/span><\/h3><\/div><\/div>

The repatriation of German reprocessing waste from the UK and France<\/strong><\/p>

After several years of operation, the fuel elements in nuclear power plants have reached the end of their service life and are replaced. Until 2005, the reprocessing of fuel elements was a legally prescribed disposal method, and until 1994 it was even mandatory. The spent fuel elements were transported to France and the UK and reprocessed there. In addition to the reusable nuclear fuel in the fuel elements, reprocessing also produces radioactive waste, which the Federal Republic of Germany is obliged to take back under international law. The safe and reliable transport of the highly radioactive waste in CASTOR\u00ae casks to Germany fulfils this obligation.<\/p>

Several more such transports are scheduled for the coming years. Further and current information can be found\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>

Further interim storage facilities and national collection centres<\/strong>
<\/strong>In addition to the facilities of the nuclear industry, research institutions also operate interim storage facilities for radioactive materials from research. The federal states are obliged to set up state collection centres for the low and intermediate-level radioactive waste from medicine, research and industry that accumulates in their territory. There are a total of twelve state collection centres, which are operated either by individual states themselves, in association or by private companies on behalf of the respective state. However, the federal states retain full legal responsibility in all cases.<\/p><\/div>

Security<\/h2><\/div>

The protection of people and the environment is the top priority. The interim storage concept therefore aims to ensure the safe containment and retention of radioactive materials as well as the necessary shielding of ionising radiation at all times. The transport and storage containers are a central component. In addition, the design of the storage buildings and their technical facilities ensure safety during interim storage. The safety concept is supplemented by administrative precautions. Interim storage is constantly monitored by the operators in accordance with regulations and checked by the supervisory authorities - safety is therefore guaranteed at all times.<\/p>

The protection concept also applies in the event of beyond-design-basis events:<\/strong>
As part of a stress test for supply and disposal plants and facilities in Germany, the Disposal Commission (ESK) appointed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment came to this conclusion in its statement of 14 March 2013:
\"...The interim storage of irradiated fuel assemblies and heat-generating waste is based on a robust protection concept in which compliance with the basic protection goals during storage in specified normal operation and in the event of incidents is primarily ensured by the thick-walled metallic casks. The design of the containers also ensures that no drastic disaster control measures are required even in the event of beyond-design-basis incidents.<\/p>

The investigations and assessments carried out by the ESK on the basis of the documents submitted have shown that the interim storage facilities for spent fuel assemblies and heat-generating waste fulfil the highest stress level or achieve the highest degree of protection in almost all load cases...\"<\/p>

Interim storage facilities containing nuclear fuel are also monitored by the European Atomic Energy Community EURATOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with regard to non-proliferation, i.e. the non-proliferation of fissile material. The purpose of fissile material monitoring is to ensure that fissile material is not used or misused for military purposes.<\/p><\/div>

Radiation exposure<\/h2><\/div>

The following applies to all nuclear facilities: The additional effective radiation dose for the population must not exceed the limit value of 1 millisievert (1 mSv = one thousandth of a sievert) per calendar year, based on the most unfavourable assumptions set out in the Radiation Protection Ordinance.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The average exposure of a person to radiation from all radiation sources in Germany is around 4 millisieverts per year. A distinction is made between natural and civilisation-related radiation exposure. Natural radiation includes cosmic radiation, i.e. high-energy radiation from outer space, and terrestrial radiation, i.e. radiation released by the decay of natural radioactive substances in the earth's crust. Humans also ingest radioactive substances, such as potassium or iodine, with their food and drinking water.<\/p>

Changes in the environment due to technical developments lead to an increase in natural radiation exposure. In particular, radon in buildings and natural radioactive substances from mining and manufacturing processes can contribute to this. The effective dose of natural radiation is around 2.1 millisieverts per year. People are also exposed to radioactive radiation from medical and technical applications. The effective dose from X-ray diagnostics alone is around 1.8 millisieverts per year.<\/p>

In comparison, radiation exposure from the operation of nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities in Germany accounts for a significantly lower proportion: less than 0.01 millisieverts per year, i.e. less than 1 % of the limit set by law.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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July 2017<\/span><\/p>

Closely linked to the public debate on the utilisation of nuclear energy is the discussion on the topic of final storage. The federal government is responsible for final storage. The majority of the radioactive waste produced in Germany, low and medium-level radioactive waste, will in future be stored in the Konrad repository. The former iron ore mine, which has been authorised as a repository, has been converted for this purpose since 2007. It remains to be seen where the highly radioactive, heat-generating waste (HLW) will be disposed of. It contains around 99 per cent of all radioactivity.<\/p>

In April 2013, the federal and state governments reached a cross-party agreement to reorganise the repository issue. The \"Site Selection Act for a Repository for High-Level Radioactive Waste\" (StandAG) provides for a new nationwide search for a suitable repository site for highly radioactive, heat-generating waste (HAW) in a multi-stage process and came into force in July 2013.<\/p><\/div>

As a first step, the law provided for the establishment of a commission to answer fundamental questions and define requirements. On 10 April 2014, the Commission for the Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste<\/a>\u00a0officially appointed by the German Bundestag. The commission was made up of representatives from politics, academia and civil society. On 5 July 2016, the commission handed over its\u00a0Final report<\/a>\u00a0with the recommendation to the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Federal Government of a disposal path for deep geological disposal with the option of reversibility, technical-scientific decision criteria and a comprehensive participation procedure for the search for a repository for highly radioactive waste. The proposals and recommendations contained in the report are summarised in a so-called\u00a0Formulation aid of the Federal Government<\/a>\u00a0which supported the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag in drafting a bill for the further development of the Site Selection Act. The drafting aid was adopted by the Federal Cabinet on 21 December 2016. The \"Act on the Further Development of the Act on the Search and Selection of a Site for a Repository for Heat-Generating Radioactive Waste and Other Acts<\/a>\" was finally adopted by the Bundestag on 23 March 2017 and by the Bundesrat on 31 March 2017.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The actual site selection will be carried out by the new\u00a0<\/span>Federal Company for Final Disposal mbH<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>as the project sponsor. The approval and supervisory authority is the\u00a0<\/span>Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE)<\/a>. The disposal path provided for in the law is final disposal in deep geological formations in a repository mine constructed for this purpose with the aim of final closure and with reversibility in the form of retrievability of the waste during the operating phase and provision for possible retrievability after closure of the repository mine. However, retrieval or salvage is not intended. Three phases are envisaged for the selection of a site for such a repository for deep geological disposal:\u00a0<\/p>