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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The emplacement

Planned emplacement

Many preparations still need to be made before emplacement can start. Once this has been done, emplacement operations will take place according to a set scale.

Per shift, about 17 transport units can be transported underground. Based on 200 days of emplacement operations per year and assuming one-shift operation, this would result in an annual emplacement capacity of about 3,400 transport units. Thus, the expected emplacement volume of about 10,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste per year is safely covered.

Separate service shaft and emplacement shaft

Using two shafts for conventional repository operation and the emplacement of waste packages provides great benefits in terms of safety and organisation. Therefore, shaft Konrad 1 continues to be used for materials haulage and manwinding, while new surface installations including new hauling equipment are being constructed at shaft Konrad 2, with the help of which the waste packages will be taken underground.

Emplacement via the return air shaft

The radioactive waste is emplaced via the upcast ventilation shaft. In the event of a release of radioactivity (incident) this will prevent contaminated return air from entering that part of the mine that is not monitored radiologically. Thus, only that part of the mine has to be controlled where emplacement operations take place.

Example of an emplacement operation: A waste package goes underground

In the reloading hall an overhead crane picks up the waste packages from the freight car In the reloading hall an overhead crane picks up the waste packages from the freight carIn the reloading hall an overhead crane picks up the waste packages from the freight car

The waste packages are delivered as transport units on freight cars or lorries. A transport unit consists of a container or a pool pallet containing max. two cylindrical waste packages.

Once the transport unit has arrived in the reloading hall at the surface, it is reloaded onto a wagon with the help of an overhead crane. Over rails and by means of horizontal sliding, this crane takes the transport units to a place where their radiation is measured. Following the control measurement at delivery, the transport unit is then taken underground in a cage via shaft 2.

Underground: The waste package reaches its final position

Underground a straddle-carrier picks up the transport unit from the wagon and places it onto a transport vehicle, which takes the transport unit to the access area of the corresponding emplacement chamber. Here the transport unit is taken over by a stacking vehicle which takes the waste package to its final position in the emplacement chamber. The emplacement chamber is filled from the rear towards the front. Every 50 metres, a shotcrete wall is set up and the residual cavity behind it is backfilled with pump stowing (concrete). Thus the waste is protected against release. Once all sections of a gallery have been backfilled it will be sealed completely. Following the termination of emplacement operations, shafts 1 and 2 will be backfilled.

State of 2016.04.01

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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