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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What will become of Asse?

Safety for future generations

"Lex Asse" speeds up decommissioning

Retrieval becomes legal mandate

The prime aim with regard to the decommissioning of the Asse mine is the long-term safety of man and environment. According to the present state of knowledge in terms of the Asse II mine, the statutory protection goals can only be achieved by retrieving the waste.

The new Asse-law creates an essential basis for this task. Retrieval has been determined as the decommissioning option to be pursued as long as it does not pose a radiological and safety-related risk for the staff and the population. Under the new law, the termination of retrieval would lead to a reconsideration of the benefits and disadvantages of all options with the participation of the Bundestag and the public.

Progress made by simplified procedures

Simplified licensing procedures now enable concrete progress of work. Radioactively contaminated brines pumped from the brine swamp in front of emplacement chamber 12 on the 750-m level can now be processed inside the mine to a special type of concrete and can then remain underground. This way, the radioactive substances will be bound into solid matter for as long as it takes until they have decayed. It is now possible to carry out further work relating to retrieval and to establishing the emergency preparedness.

In the process of retrieving the waste and safely decommissioning the mine, orders amounting to 100,000 euros may now be awarded by private treaty. Awarding procedures for higher investments have been simplified. This results in the works being sped up.

Speeding up by parallel work

Investments that are necessary for retrieving the waste may now be made already before the trial phase ends – i.e. before it has been clarified whether retrieval is technically feasible.

In that manner, the works for sinking the recovery shaft (shaft 5) via which it is planned to transport the waste to the surface, can now start. The same applies to other measures.

Comprehensive information of the public

The law emphasises the right of the public to participate in the procedure in an intense and transparent way. Documents relating to the comprehensive information of the public are published on the internet (in German only).

Everyone need to play their part

With the "Lex Asse" the legislator indicates the direction for further steps in the safe decommissioning of the Asse II mine. Safe decommissioning will be feasible if all parties involved make their contribution towards achieving the objective.

State of 2016.08.18

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.

© Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz