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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Today the prominent shaft tower at Konrad 1 is a listed building

Konrad at a glance

The Konrad mine, an abandoned iron ore mine located in the area of the city of Salzgitter is currently being converted to a repository for radioactive waste with negligible heat generation. About 90 per cent of the radioactive waste accruing in Germany is in this category; it does only contain about 1 per cent of the total radioactivity of all waste, though.

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Mobile driller boring holes for fixing strata bolts in preparation for the storage roadway

Konrad's suitability to host a repository

In a depth of 800 to 1,300 metres of the Konrad mine there are iron ore deposits where one intends to dispose of the radioactive waste. Compared with other iron ore mines, Konrad is exceptionally dry. The covering layer of clay rocks, which is 160 to 400 m thick, seals the mine against the groundwater near the surface and the Salzgitter branch canal.

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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.

Driving of a gallery with a road header

Disposal: Protagonists and responsibilities

In Germany there are two repositories and two repository projects for which the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is responsible: Morsleben, Asse, Konrad, and Gorleben. While Gorleben is still a mine and no decision has been made so far as to whether radioactive waste will ever be disposed of there, radioactive waste has already been stored in Morsleben and in Asse. Konrad, on the other hand, is currently being converted to a repository and is the only repository so far that has been licensed under nuclear law.

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1992: The hearing in 75 lasted days

Licence and legal bases

It was a long way from the idea to use Konrad as a repository for waste with negligible heat generation until the start of implementation. It took already about 20 years to just have the licence granted, the so-called plan-approval decision.

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