Operation of the Gorleben mine will be reduced to a minimum

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) has presented the new main operating plan for the Gorleben mine as agreed. This plan constitutes a central element of the agreement reached between the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Lower-Saxonian Ministry for the Environment and BfS on 29 July 2014.

In July the parties involved came to an understanding about the details of how the Gorleben mine will be kept operable. Operation of the mining installations will thus be reduced to a minimum. The new operating plan that BfS has submitted to the competent Lower-Saxonian mining authority contains details of the technical arrangements with respect to how the mine will be kept operable. The previous main operating plan will be invalid as of 1 October.

The Lower-Saxonian Office for Mining, Energy and Geology decided that particular work tasks scheduled in the main operating plan could already be implemented before the formal adoption of the main operating plan. The Office will issue the relevant temporary order pertaining to mining law.

The work tasks envisaged in the new main operating plan are supposed to enable the Gorleben mine to be kept operable in the long run. The plan is based on the following pillars:

• Exploration area 1 will be taken out of operation. All installations, components and systems will be removed from this area and the area will be blocked off.
• While the mine is kept operable, only the two shafts and those parts of the infrastructure area that are required for fresh air and escape routes (based on mining requirements) will continue to be operated. This includes an easily accessible connection between the shafts.
• The security system will be largely dismantled and reduced to that of an ordinary industrial installation.
• The surface installations will be operated as required for keeping the mine operable.
• Before the activities will focus on keeping the mine operable a certain amount of transitional work needs to be accomplished. This work is necessary due to the fact that the exploration area and parts of the infrastructure area are planned to be taken out of operation and it will be accomplished within roughly two years.

It will no longer be possible for the public to visit the mine as part of our public relation activities.

The new operating plan submitted by BfS underlines the fact that the search for a storage facility for high-level radioactive waste is to be performed without any preconceived views or commitments as to its outcome. The framework operating plan approved in 1983 was revoked beforehand. With the Site Selection Law becoming effective the nuclear plan-approval procedure has become obsolete and was declared void by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the federal state of Lower Saxony.

Background:

Exploration work in Gorleben was stopped with the Site Selection Law for a repository for high-level radioactive waste. At the same time it was decided to keep the mine operable, which is to be defined in the new main operating plan. According to the Site Selection Law, the mine has to be kept operable for as long as and if the site is not ruled out in the selection procedure.