What is the Asse?
The most important information in brief
The Asse II salt mine near Wolfenbüttel is an approximately 100-year-old potash and salt mine. Between 1965 and 1995, Helmholtz Zentrum München used the mine on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Research to test the handling and storage of radioactive waste in a repository. Between 1967 and 1978, 46,950 cubic metres of radioactive waste in 125,787 drums were emplaced.
Today, the Asse mine faces two major problems: On the one hand, saline solutions enter the mine, on the other hand the stability of the mine openings is endangered. In September 2008, the ministries involved agreed to treat the Asse mine as a repository in future. At the beginning of 2009, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) took over operatorship for the Asse II mine from Helmholtz Zentrum München. The task of BfS is to decommission the Asse mine immediately. Decommissioning is to take place once the radioactive waste has been retrieved from the facility.
The "Lex Asse", the Law on Speeding up the Retrieval of Radioactive Waste and the Decommissioning of the Asse II Mine became effective on 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.