Protection and safety
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is responsible for Asse II.
Starting on 1 January 2009, the federal government transferred the responsibility for the Asse II mine from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to the Federal Environment Ministry. Since that date, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is the operator of the facility. The Asse mine is subject to the same rules that apply to all other repositories for radioactive waste in Germany. The BfS has the legal mandate to decommission the Asse II mine immediately, ie. without any negligent delay (§57b AtG).
The BfS thus faces four essential tasks:
- The long-term safety must be guaranteed: The challenge is here to shield the radioactive radiation of the waste in the mine from the biosphere. At no point in time must an impermissible amount of radioactivity emanating from the waste enter the environment in an uncontrolled way.
- The operational safety of the Asse II mine must be improved by stabilising and precautionary measures in order for a safe operation to be possible until the selected decommissioning option will be realised.
- Radiation protection must be guaranteed: The BfS takes all measures to keep the radiation exposure to population and staff as low as possible. No measure to secure or decommission the Asse mine must put human beings at avoidable risks.
- The public will participate in the process: Right from the start, the public is the BfS’s partner in decommissioning the mine. Citizens have the legal right to information and participation in the plan-approval procedure for the decommissioning of the mine.
To find the best possible solution for the safe operation and the decommissioning of the Asse II mine all essential measures taken by the BfS will be developed and accompanied by experts and co-ordinated with the supervisory authorities. The results will be published on the internet.
The so-called "Lex Asse" (§57b AtG), the "Law on Speeding up the Retrieval of Radioactive Waste and the Decommissioning of the Asse II Mine" has been effective since 24 April 2013. The new law creates an essential legal basis for the retrieval of the radioactive waste. The "Lex Asse" facilitates the speeding up of works through simplified procedures and the possibility to carry out works in parallel. Besides, the public right of access to comprehensive information is strengthened.