On 25 April 2017, the operator responsibilities for the Asse II mine as well as the Konrad and Morsleben repositories were transferred to the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH, BGE). This website of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) will therefore no longer be updated and displays the status as on 24 April 2017. You will find current information at the BGE: www.bge.de

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Statements and comments on the Asse II mine

Current debates and events that affect the Asse II mine: statements and comments by BfS spokespersons on current issues.

Search results 16 to 20 from a total of 26

statement Asse mine – effects on man and environment

The prime aim in the decommissioning of Asse is the long-term safety of man and environment. The BfS as the operator of Asse needs to furnish proof that the selected decommissioning option does not put man and environment in the area at risk, not even in the long term. Also according to the present state of knowledge, this can only be achieved by retrieving the wastes from the Asse mine.

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statement As things stand, safe decommissioning can only be achieved by retrieval

In 2009, the BfS was given the task of safely decommissioning the Asse mine in compliance with the requirements of nuclear law. According to the present state of knowledge, this can only be achieved by retrieving the waste from the Asse mine. It is currently being investigated in the trial phase whether this can be achieved. This situation has not changed.

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statement Pumping alone is no solution

The aim of the BfS is the safe decommissioning of the Asse mine. According to the present state of knowledge, this can only be achieved by retrieving the wastes from the mine. At the same time, the BfS is bound by law to arrange for measures to be taken in the event of an emergency, which cannot be ruled out – the so-called drowning of the Asse II mine in the event of a design-exceeding inflow of brine. However, in the event of an emergency, the consequences for man and environment must be kept as low as possible.

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Background Statement by BfS personnel on the long duration of proceedings in retrieving the wastes from the Asse mine

Most recently, there were media reports about a statement given by a division of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, who had made critical remarks as to the long duration of proceedings relating to retrieving the wastes from the Asse mine so far. Against what background was this paper written and what does it mean for the further work of the BfS?

In the first place, the following is noted: There is no re-evaluation or repositioning of the BfS. The federal government had transferred the operator’s responsibility to the BfS at the end of 2008 with the aim to safely close the Asse mine. Also according to the current state of knowledge, the long-term safety of man and environment with regard to effects caused by the radioactive wastes stored in the Asse mine can only be achieved by retrieving the wastes.

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statement Re the article "Phantom of a bomb" of Süddeutsche Zeitung of 12 July 2011, the BfS makes the following statement:

The previous operator of the Asse II mine who had been responsible for it until 31 December 2008, the Helmholtz Zentrum München, handed over a documentation about waste emplacement to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS). Basically, this documentation does not state where and for what purpose the wastes were produced originally that were emplaced in the Asse mine until 1978. It is fact that also uranium was emplaced in the Asse mine. On the basis of the existing documentation, the BfS is not in a position to answer the question as to whether parts of the material were produced in the process of developing a nuclear bomb.

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Transfer of operator responsibilities

On 25 April 2017, the operator responsibilities for the Asse II mine as well as the Konrad and Morsleben repositories were transferred to the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH, BGE). Previously, the responsibility for the projects was with the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS). The foundations for the change of operatorship are laid down in the "Act on the Realignment of the Organisational Structures in the Field of Radioactive Waste Disposal", which became effective on 30 July 2016. The BfS focusses on the federal tasks of radiation protection, for example in the field of defence against nuclear hazards, medical research, mobile communication, UV protection or the measuring networks for environmental radioactivity.

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