Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management

Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management ; - BASE -
State level	Federation
position	Higher federal authority
Supervisory authority	Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
founding	1st of January 2014
Headquarters	Berlin (provisional)
Authority management	Wolfram König
Web presence	www.base.bund.de

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management ( BASE ) is a statutorily established ( § 1 BfkEG), independent higher federal authority in the business area of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). It started operating on September 1, 2014. Its temporary headquarters are in Berlin . Other offices are located in Salzgitter and Bonn . Authority head is Wolfram König .

history

After the nuclear phase-out of the Merkel government / Westerwelle government parties decided with the opposition parties SPD and Greens , a new law to search for a repository to adopt. In May 2013, the four parliamentary groups introduced the draft of a law to search for and select a location for a repository for heat-generating radioactive waste and to amend other laws ( Site Selection Act - StandAG) . This draft of an article law contained an article 3 (law on the establishment of a Federal Office for Nuclear Waste Management) (BfkEG) with only three paragraphs. In the course of the legislative process, § 1 BfkEG was supplemented and transitional provisions were added with § 4 BfkEG. The BfkEG came into force on January 1, 2014, so that on this day the Federal Office for Nuclear Waste Management was formally established.

The authority was renamed the Federal Office for Nuclear Waste Disposal Safety (BfE) on July 30, 2016 by Art. 4 No. 1 of the Act on the Reorganization of the Organizational Structure in the Field of Final Disposal (NeuOrgG). The reason for the renaming was the intention to differentiate the Federal Office more clearly from the Federal Association for Final Storage (BGE). At the same time, the BfE was assigned essential tasks of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) in the field of nuclear safety and the safety of nuclear waste disposal. For this reason, the main tasks of the BfE (now BASE) are performed at the Salzgitter headquarters, where a large part of the staff is based.

On January 1, 2020, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BfE) was renamed the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE).

organization

The Federal Office is subject to the supervision of the BMU. It is headed by a President with a Vice-President as permanent representative. In addition to the presidential area, the BASE is divided into the following departments:

Department Z: Central Services
Department GE: Approval procedure for interim storage / transport
Department KE: Nuclear safety and nuclear supervision in waste disposal
Department SV: site selection process and public participation
Department FA: Task-related research, mining, water and nuclear law procedures

tasks

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management is the central federal authority for the approval, supervision and regulation in the areas of final and interim storage as well as for the handling and transport of radioactive waste . The range of tasks of the BASE can be described in more detail using its organizational structure. The field of nuclear safety includes

Supervision of repositories for heat-generating radioactive substances and the Asse II mine ;
Receipt and publication of information according to § 7 paragraph 1c AtG as well as the
Recording and documentation of all reportable events in nuclear facilities (federal incident reporting center).

In the area of nuclear waste disposal , the BASE is responsible for

Approval of the transport of nuclear fuels according to § 4 AtG (so-called Castor transports ) and large sources according to § 186 StrlSchG as well as their withdrawal or revocation;

State custody of nuclear fuels within the meaning of Section 5 AtG;

Approval of the storage of nuclear fuels outside of the state safekeeping (so-called interim storage facility ) according to § 6 AtG as well as their withdrawal or revocation;

Type approval of packages of type C, B (U), B (M) and of packages for fissile materials (CF, B (U) F, B (M) F, AF and IF) as well as the

Recognition of foreign type approvals for packages.

As part of the site selection process , BASE is responsible for the

Definition of exploration programs and test criteria according to the StandAG;
Examination of the proposals of the developer according to § 14 paragraph 2, § 16 paragraph 3 and § 18 paragraph 3 StandAG;
Supervision of the execution of the site selection process according to § 19 Paragraph 1 to 4 StandAG as well as the
Site security in accordance with Section 21 StandAG. In addition, the BASE is the
Support of public participation in the site selection process.

In the future, BASE will later take on further tasks in the field of approval and supervision of repositories . These include the

Planning approval and approval of repositories for highly radioactive waste ( § 9b AtG);

Granting of the mining law permits and other necessary mining law permits and approvals for approval procedures according to § 9b AtG for the construction, operation and decommissioning of federal facilities for securing and final storage according to § 9a Paragraph 3 AtG in consultation with the competent mining authority of the respective country;

Mining supervision according to Sections 69 to 74 of the Federal Mining Act on Federal Facilities for Securing and Final Storage according to Section 9a Paragraph 3 AtG as well as the

Issuing of permits under water law or permits for approval procedures according to § 9b AtG for federal facilities for securing and final storage according to § 9a paragraph 3 AtG in consultation with the responsible water authority .

In addition, the BASE supports the BMU technically and scientifically within the scope of its areas of responsibility ( Section 2 (2) BfkEG) and to this extent performs federal tasks that it is commissioned to carry out by the BMU or, with its consent, by the relevant highest federal authority ( Section 2 Paragraph 3 BfkEG). Finally, the BASE is also responsible for sufficient research activity within the scope of its areas of responsibility ( Section 2 (4) BfkEG).

criticism

In 2014, Andreas Troge , former President of the Federal Environment Agency , criticized the establishment of the agency with the previously envisaged competencies as an unnecessary dual organization to the Federal Agency for Radiation Protection.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Announcement of the BMUB of August 5, 2014: Organizational decree for the establishment of the Federal Office for Nuclear Waste Management ( BAnz AT 08/27/2014 B4 )

↑ Organization of BfE, management and structure. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 24, 2016 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 .

↑ Bundestag printed paper 17/13471.

↑ Resolution recommendation and report of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (16th Committee) on the draft law of the CDU / CSU, SPD, Die Linke and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen - Printed matter 18/8704 - Draft law to amend the Site Selection Act. (PDF) Printed matter 18/8913. German Bundestag, June 22, 2016 .

↑ Founding and development of the BfE. (No longer available online.) BfE, archived from the original on December 31, 2017 . Foundation and development of the BASE. Boundary conditions for the work of a still young authority. BASE, December 20, 2019 .

↑ Article 5 of the law of December 12, 2019 ( BGBl. I pp. 2510, 2511 )

↑ Name change on January 1, 2020 emphasizes the separation of roles. BASE, December 30, 2019 .

↑ Money for the repository. The time . Retrieved May 23, 2014.