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 repository

History of the Morsleben repository

Marie mine - historical view 1922 Marie mine - historical view 1922Marie mine - historical view 1922

The Morsleben repository is an over 100-year-old potash and rock salt mine. In World War II the mine served as concentration sub-camp and as underground armament production facility, later on chicken production and storage facility for toxic waste. Between 1971 and 1998, low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes were emplaced.

An exhibition on the history of the repository at the Morsleben information centre brings light into the darkness of the past. It provides the public with access to the mine's complex utilisation history. The further development of the exhibition is an open process which the public can and is to take part in.

Article 1897 – 1937: Potash and rock salt mining in Beendorf and Morsleben

In 1897 construction of Marie mine started in Beendorf. Later on, the Bartensleben mine was constructed in Morsleben and connected underground to the Marie mine. The mine was created. Today, historic devices from the time mining activities took place can be found at several places in the mine. They are witnesses of the repository's past as potash and rock salt mine. As a result of the former mining operation, the mine's cavity volume is today 8 – 9 million cubic metres. Such a large number of cavities presents a challenge for the safe decommissioning of the repository. Part of the cavities has already been backfilled to stabilise the mine.

Article 1934 – 1945: Armaments production and forced labour in National Socialism

Between 1937 and 1944, the air force used the Marie mine to develop an ammunition plant at the surface and to store aircraft ammunition underground. From 1944 until the end of World War II in 1945 the entire mine was confiscated for armament production. Concentration camp prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp were forced to produce armaments underground. The work killed many people. Today the repository is also a memorial site for survivors and their next of kin.

Article 1958 - 1996: Chicken production and interim storage of toxic waste in the GDR

In the former GDR chicken were produced in the Marie mine, while the repository we know today was being constructed in the Bartensleben mine. Later on toxic waste was stored intermediately in the Marie mine.
From 1971, low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes were disposed of in the Bartensleben mine. Small amounts of radioactive waste were stored intermediately.

Article 1970 - 1990: Repository of the former GDR

For monetary reasons, the former GDR examined only existing salt mines when searching for a repository site. The emplacement of radioactive wastes was already launched in 1971 before the repository was licensed and structural preparations were completed. According to today's criteria, the mine would not have been licensed as a repository.

Article Since 1990: Pan-German repository

Based on the Unification Treaty, the Morsleben repository for radioactive waste was transferred to the area of responsibility of the Federal Republic of Germany after German reunification – the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) became the operator of the repository. The permanent operating licence granted by the GDR was considered a factual plan-approval decision which continued to be effective until 30 June 2000. Emplacement operation of low-level to intermediate-level radioactive waste was resumed in 1994. Following a fundamental reappraisal, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection irrevocably waivered the acceptance of further radioactive wastes and their disposal in the Morsleben repository in 2001.

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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