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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Completion of emplacement chambers

  • On 30 June 2016, the first partial field for the emplacement of radioactive waste was completed
  • The work comprised the extension of existing workings and the driving of new areas
  • Other work to be carried out until the repository will be taken into operation comprises, among others, the production of connections for ventilation purposes

With the driving of the last out of six emplacement chambers, the first partial field 5/1 for the emplacement of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste was completed on 30 June 2016. Emplacement field 5 consists of partial fields 5/1 and 5/2. Work for partial field 5/2 will start once emplacement operation has started. It is planned to store 63,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste in partial field 5/1. Altogether, emplacement field 5 provides room for 127,000 cubic metres of waste.

The image depicts a roadheader inside the emplacement chamber Roadheader emplacement chamberRoadheader inside the emplacement chamber

Partial emplacement field 5/1 on the second level in a depth of ca. 850 metres consists of the workings of the six emplacement chambers, the air-collection roadways (exhaust air), and the access roads. In the course of the work already existing workings of the emplacement field were extended and new areas were created. In the scope of this driving, workings with a cross-section of about 42 square metres each were excavated. Altogether, emplacement chambers with a length of ca. 3,834 metres were driven. The emplacement chambers are between 400 and 1,040 metres long. Roadheaders were used for the driving (see photo). The workings are secured with rock-bolting and wire mesh.

Until the emplacement chambers will be taken into operation, among others technical equipment must be installed and connections between the emplacement chambers and the air collection roadways must be established for ventilation purposes.

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State of 2016.08.01

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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