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GERMANY

(updated on Aug. 2007)

1.  ENERGY, ECONOMIC AND ELECTRICITY INFORMATION

1.1.  General Overview

The Federal Republic of Germany is situated in central Europe and has nine neighbouring countries, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and borders to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

The climate is moderate and influenced mainly by winds from the West, the eastern part has more continental character. In the lowlands of the northern part the average July temperature is 16 - 18 C, the average precipitation amounting to 600 - 750 mm per annum. Half of the territory is used for agricultural purpose, one third is covered by woods, 12 % are taken by settlements and traffic area.

As a result of World War II Germany was split. Until 1990 two parts named Germany existed, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG - Bundesrepublik Deutschland, hereafter referred to as West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR - Deutsche Demokratische Republik, known as East Germany). In October 1990, the GDR joined West Germany. Germany is organized as a federal republic. This means, that unless otherwise specified, the execution of federal laws lies within the responsibility of the federal states, the 16 Länder.

After the reunification Berlin again became capital of Germany. Part of the Government, however, still remains in the former (provisional) capital Bonn. Area and population development is shown in Table 1 (for the country map see Figure 2). Almost 50 % of the inhabitants are either employed or entrepreneur, whereas another 5 % are job seeking.

TABLE 1. POPULATION INFORMATION

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

The gross domestic product (GDP) statistics are given in Table 2. Reunification has turned out to be a lengthy and difficult process. Germany has to fund improvements in infrastructure, environment, and industry in the eastern part, while many eastern companies collapsed acting in the unaccustomed western competition. Unemployment in the eastern part is still much higher than in the westeren area.

Germany imported 61 % of its primary energy supply in 2005, including oil and gas, which both accounts for 59 % of its energy consumption. There are substantial reserves of both hard coal and lignite, the amount in place is about 7 times the recoverable quantities mentioned in Table 3. However, domestic hard coal is much more expensive than imported coal and expansion of open cast lignite mining is limited by environmental considerations. Hydro energy anyway contributes only a small amount, and possible sites are already in use, so there are no considerable reserves left. Uranium extraction has tapered off since 1991 and has more or less stopped by now. Energy statistics are given in Table 4.

TABLE 2. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

1.2.  Energy Policy

Since the 1970s, a central intention of the German energy policy has been to shift electricity production away from imported oil and gas towards (previously domestic) coal and nuclear power. The share of oil and gas in electricity production was reduced from the peak of 30 % in 1975 to 11 % in 2003, while during the same period the share of nuclear has grown from 9 % to 28 %, whereas that of coal (hard coal 24 % and lignite 27 %) has remained at around 50 %. Since the 1990s all Federal Governments promoted the utilization of renewable energies. The utilities are required by law to buy electricity generated by independent producers using renewables. In comparison with the generation price of nuclear or coal plants, rather high minimum payments to the small producers are guaranteed (see also chapter 4.1). In 2003, the share of electricity production from renewables comes up to 8 % - hydro-power with 4.2 %, wind-power with 3.2 % - and it is intended to double this share by the year 2010. Nevertheless, in the medium-term large scale electricity production will continue to come from Germany's coal and nuclear power plants.

In the past, the Federal Government encouraged the utilities to increasingly use domestic hard coal for electricity generation, this rose up to 45 million tons of hard coal per year in 1995. Subsidies were paid by the Government and amounted to 5000 million Euro per annum in 1994, but are reduced continuously, coming up to € 2700 million Euro per annum in 2005. Lignite production in Germany is not subsidized, nevertheless it accounts for nearly one third of the electricity production.

To comply with environmental regulations since the mid 1980s, German utilities implemented state of the art technologies to reduce emissions from electricity generation through coal. Also they invested in underground transmission networks. Both influenced company costs and electricity prices.

The Federal Government, elected in September 1998, decided to phase out the use of nuclear power for commercial electricity production. The current Federal Government, elected in 2005, decided not to make any change, due to coalition restrictions. (see chapter 4).

TABLE 3. ESTIMATED RECOVERABLE ENERGY RESERVES IN 2004

TABLE 4. ENERGY STATISTICS

1.3.  The Electricity System

The German electricity market was opened by the new energy law in 1998. Up to that time the electricity suppliers had regional monopolies. Now, the German public electricity sector is characterized by a pluralistic structure in electricity generation, transportation and distribution. Participants are large, medium and small-sized electricity suppliers, grid operators, electricity traders (electricity spot market), numerous large and small power plants , and so-called "small producers". The market share of electric power supply is shown in Table 5. Shareholders of the general electricity supply companies include both, private investors - also from abroad - as well as governmental interests. All nuclear power plants in operation are run by private corporations under commercial legislation, with sales revenues from electricity production and trade.

The larger utilities use a mix of power producing facilities, including nuclear power. So electricity prices in general reflect this energy-mix. Few distributors offer "Ökostrom" - electricity only from renewables - at a slightly higher price. There is no company exclusively using nuclear power, neither in production nor in distribution.

TABLE 5. MARKET SHARE OF ELEKTRICITY POWER SUPPLY (2003)

TABLE 6. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION AND INSTALLED CAPACITIES

The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) outlines the national energy policy. As mentioned before, electricity supply is organized by private corporations which of course decide on economic means and follow commercial legislation. Decisions on new production facilities and similar matters are due to market forces and price competition and also have to reflect political preferences, as e.g. the obligation to accept at all times electricity produced from renewables at a fixed high price (see also chapter 1.2).

In 2004, the net generation of all power plants amounted to 615 TWh, with gross capacity of 132 GWe. In 2004, nuclear power took 17 % of the capacity, had a share of 27 % in electricity production and more than half of the base load. Electricity supply companies also purchase electricity from around 10 000 small producers using renewables for power production, predominantly hydro and wind energy as well as solar energy, biomass and waste materials. In 2005, renewables fed in 62 TWh.

Table 6 shows the statistics on electricity production and installed capacities, Table 7 shows energy related ratios.

TABLE 7. ENERGY RELATED RATIOS

2.  NUCLEAR POWER SITUATION

2.1.  Historical Development and Current Nuclear Power Organizational Structure

2.1.1.  Historical Development Concerning NPPs

After World War II, allied regulations prohibited any activity in nuclear research and industrial development in the two parts of Germany. After West Germany had officially renounced to produce, possess or use nuclear weapons, it was admitted, in 1955, to the western community of nations as a sovereign state. Research and development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes could start.

By this time, some countries already had been working for ten years in nuclear technology. To close the gap, an agreement was reached between the scientific, economic and political sectors to organize an extensive international co-operation. The German Atomic Programme was formulated to coordinate the work, including the construction of a series of prototype reactors, formulating the concepts for a closed nuclear fuel cycle, and for the disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological formations.

In 1955, the Federal Government established an atomic ministry (Bundesministerium für Atomfragen). Germany became a founding member of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the present Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of OECD. Agreements for co-operation with France, the United Kingdom and the USA were concluded. With the assistance of US manufacturers, Germany started developing commercial nuclear power plants (Siemens/Westinghouse for PWR, AEG/General Electric for BWR). The German electric utilities supported the development.

In the following years several nuclear research centers were created in West Germany:

Most of these research centers as well as university institutes were equipped with research reactors. At present most research reactors are shut down and being decommissioned. Since the late 1980s some of the research centers changed their areas of activity - and some of them also their names - to environmental issues. Due to financial conditions, nuclear research became more and more limited to basic nuclear physics.

In 1958, a 16 MWe experimental nuclear power plant (Versuchsatomkraftwerk Kahl, VAK) was ordered from GE/AEG and reached criticality in 1960. The domestic German nuclear development began in 1961 with the order of the 15 MWe pebble-bed high-temperature reactor (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor in Jülich, AVR) from BBK/BBC. Power reactors with 250-350 MWe and 600-700 MWe were ordered between 1965 and 1970. After about 15 years, the gap between the German and the international technological state of the art was closed. The German nuclear industry received the first orders from abroad, from the Netherlands (Borssele) and from Argentina (Atucha). In 1972, the construction of the world's then largest reactor, Biblis A with 1200 MWe, started in Germany. Between 1970 and 1975, on the average three units were ordered annually.

In 1969, Siemens and AEG founded Kraftwerk Union (KWU) by merging their respective nuclear activities. The domestic development of KWU nuclear power plants with PWRs started. On the basis of several years of operational experience, finally a standardized 1300 MWe PWR ("Konvoi") was introduced, mainly to speed up the licensing process. However, after some "pre-Konvoi" units, the construction of only three Konvoi-units was actually realized (Isar-2, Neckarwestheim-2, and Emsland). The Konvoi-units were ordered in 1982 and commissioned in 1988/89, the last NPP projects in Germany. Since then, nuclear continuously has a share of approximately one third of the electricity production in Germany.

In East Germany, nuclear power started developing with the assistance of the Soviet Union in 1955. Research in nuclear physics could begin, the Central Institute for Nuclear Physics was founded in 1956 at Rossendorf. There, in 1957, a research reactor supplied by the Soviet Union started operation. The first East German 70 MWe nuclear power plant Rheinsberg, equipped with a Russian type PWR, was connected to the grid in 1966. Between 1974 and 1979, the Greifswald NPP units 1-4 were connected to the grid, all equipped with Russian WWER-440/W-230 reactors. In 1989, unit 5, a WWER-440/W-213 reactor, was in the process of commissioning. Following the German unification, comprehensive safety assessments of the Soviet type NPPs in East Germany were carried out. These analyses showed safety deficiencies in comparison with the current West German nuclear safety requirements. Due to technical and economic reasons - in particular uncertainties in the licensing process and also decreasing electricity consumption - it was decided not to upgrade these plants. They were prepared for decommissioning. Also, work on the nuclear plants under construction (units 6, 7 and 8 at Greifswald with WWER-440/W-213 reactors and two WWER-1000 reactors near Stendal) was abandoned.

Two prototypes of advanced reactor design were developed in Germany: the pebble-bed high-temperature reactor (Thorium-Hochtemperaturreaktor, THTR 300) at HRB/BBC and a fast breeder reactor (Schneller Natriumgekühlter Reaktor, SNR 300) at Interatom/Siemens. Due to economical and political reasons, the former, after a successful commissioning and operation for some years, was shut down, and the latter was completed but never commissioned.

For several years, German utilities together with Siemens/KWU and in close co-operation with its French counterparts (EdF and Framatome) had been developing an advanced PWR, the European Pressurized Water Reactor EPR. The reactor design is "evolutionary" and shows enhanced safety features, the design includes provisions to control core meltdown accidents. German utilities also supported the Siemens/KWU development of an advanced BWR (SWR 1000) with additional passive safety features. In 2001, Siemens/KWU merged its nuclear branch with Framatome SA to Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power) GmbH, which meanwhile became part of the French AREVA Group. The EPR will be build as the fifth NPP in Finland.

Since the early 1970s, the quite successful German nuclear power programme faced a steadily increasing opposition against the national use of nuclear energy. On the one hand violent demonstrations and occupation of potential sites took place, mainly at Brokdorf, Wyhl and Wackersdorf. On the other hand "concerned citizens" raised objections in administrative courts. Consequently, construction and licensing of nuclear power plants were considerably delayed due to ongoing litigation. Today, in Germany the construction of new NPPs for electricity production is forbidden by law (see chapter 4).

2.1.2.  Historical Development Concerning the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

In Germany all facilities necessary for a closed nuclear fuel cycle had been erected: in the former West Germany a very small uranium mine Ellweiler with yellow cake production, in the former East Germany the large uranium production facility Wismut, which in the beginning also supplied uranium to the Soviet Union. Ellweiler has been closed and Wismut - with an accumulated uranium production still as top 3 in the world after the USA and Canada - is being decommissioned.

The project for a reprocessing plant at Wackersdorf was abandoned in 1988, partly due to public opposition and partly also due to economic reasons. Therefore, the German utilities have contracts for reprocessing spent fuel with COGEMA/France and BNFL/UK. The contracts under private law were accompanied by governmental agreements. Radioactive waste resulting from reprocessing spent fuel in foreign facilities is brought back to Germany, the plutonium from reprocessing is used for MOX fuel fabrication. The new MOX fuel fabrication plant at Hanau was completed, but the operation license was not granted due to political complications and the plant is now being dismantled. The reprocessing pilot plant WAK is being decommissioned, a facility to vitrify the resulting high active waste concentrate meanwhile is under construction and close to commissioning.

Since the early 1960s West Germany started to set up a programme for radioactive waste management and disposal. The radioactive waste disposal policy was based on the decision that all types of radioactive waste are to be disposed of in deep geological formations. Realistically, such a decision is only acceptable if a barrier for radionuclide releases exists which remains effective over the long periods of time, which radionuclides need to decay significantly. Thus, vitrified fission product solution from reprocessing and spent fuel elements as well as spent sealed radiation sources and miscellaneous waste from small waste generators are affected by this decision. It also applies to alpha bearing waste originating in particular from reprocessing facilities, nuclear research facilities or the nuclear fuel cycle industry. Near-surface disposal or shallow land burial was excluded in Germany from the very beginning, because of the high population density and climatic conditions; furthermore appropriate deep geological formations exist.

Development work in this field started with the Asse research mine in a salt dom in Niedersachsen, where low- and medium-level radioactive waste was disposed of on an experimental basis until the end of 1978. In 1979, an agreement on the principles for NPP waste management was reached between the Federal Government and the Länder. The Land Niedersachsen agreed to assess the salt dome of Gorleben for its suitability to host a repository for all types of radioactive waste, in particular for high level waste originating from reprocessing and spent fuel elements. According to the new energy policy (see chapter 4), the underground investigation of the Gorleben salt dome has been interrupted in October 2000, for at least three, but at most ten years (Gorleben moratorium). The former iron ore mine Schacht Konrad - also in Niedersachsen - has been licensed for low and intermediate level waste (waste with negligible heat generation), but still construction of the final repository facility could not begin due to legal restrictions.

In the late 1960s, East-German studies on disposal of radioactive waste resulted in the decision to use the abandoned salt mine Morsleben (ERAM) as repository for low and intermediate level waste with low concentrations of alpha emitters. In 1981, after extensive investigations, the first license for disposal was granted. Along with the German unification in 1990, the operation license was limited until June 30, 2000, later extended to 2005. Due to court order in 1998 concerning the so-called eastern emplacement field, the waste disposal was stopped completely. Now, the licensing procedure for decommissioning is in progress.

2.1.3.  Organizational Charts

The interaction of the different authorities and organizations involved in the nuclear licensing procedure is shown in Figure 1. The institutions mentioned are explained in more detail in chapter 3. Table 8 shows the licensing and supervisory authorities for the individual power plants.

2.2.  Nuclear Power Plants: Status and Operation

In 2005, a total gross capacity of 21.7 GWe was installed in the 18 operating German nuclear power plants, unchanged since 2003. In the past 10 years, additional nuclear capacity resulted from increasing the thermal reactor power in four plants and by optimizing the steam turbine in seven plants respectively. Increasing of thermal reactor power is also foreseen for several other plants. The generated nuclear electricity (gross) amounted up to 163 TWh in 2005, 2.5 % less than in 2004, and 26 % of the electricity supplied by public utilities. This nuclear share has been around one third since 1985, nowdecreasing due to the political decision to phase out. Table 9 shows the status of nuclear power plants by the end of 2005, Figure 2 the siting. In Table 10 the projected shutdown dates for the 18 plants are given.

TABLE 8. THE LÄNDER LICENSING AND SUPERVISORY AUTHORITIES FOR NPPS

2.3.  Supply of NPPs

No exclusively German supplier of NPPs has remained with the start of the 21st century. In 2001, the remaining domestic manufacturer Siemens/KWU merged its nuclear business with Framatome SA, which in the meantime became part of the French AREVA Group as AREVA NP. The main activities are projects and engineering, nuclear services, nuclear fuel and mechanical equipment. Under the French management, the former KWU employees are engaged as well in the EPR activities in Finland and France. The second German supplier for NPPs, BBR, meanwhile part of Westinghouse, now concentrates on nuclear services.

TABLE 9. STATUS OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

2.4.  Operation of NPPs

The companies operating the NPPs are owned by only a few major utilities, a result of the concentration and reordering process in the near past. Operating personnel is in sufficient supply at the moment, regularly retrained for their job at plant specific full scope simulators at the Simulatorzentrum in Essen. But personnel may become a difficult issue due to the policy to phase out the use of nuclear power and in general a diminishing interest in technical education in Germany. For maintenance, the operator gets support from manufacturers and service suppliers specialized in this field (for operation data see chapter 2.2).

2.5.  Fuel Cycle and Waste Management

All facilities necessary to close the nuclear fuel cycle have been realized in Germany. Today, only a few of them are in operation, several are shut down and being decommissioned or did not receive an operation license (see chapter 2.1.2). According to a new energy policy implemented by the former government (see chapter 4.1) and the respective amendment of the Atomic Energy Act, the waste management of nuclear power plants comprises

• interim storage of spent fuel elements at the local interim storage facilities at the plant sites, in exceptional cases at central (external) interim storage facilities, and in future direct disposal of the fuel elements,

• reprocessing of spent fuel elements until 30 June 2005 at the latest (transport date), utilisation of recovered nuclear fuel as well as the proper disposal of waste material and,
• conditioning, interim storage and future disposal at a final repository of the radioactive waste from operation and decommissioning of the nuclear power plants.

At Gronau, the enrichment plant of URENCO expanded from a capacity of originally 400° SWU/year to 4°500° SWU/year, the license was issued in 2005.

At Lingen, the fuel fabrication facility ANF is in operation and produces uranium fuel elements for LWRs. In 2005, the increase of the throughput capacity up to 650 t Uranium per year was licensed.

Three central interim storage facilities for spent fuel are in operation: The transport flask store Ahaus (TBLA) for irradiated fuel, the transport flask store Gorleben (TBLG) for both, irradiated fuel and vitrified reprocessing products and the interim storage facility Zwischenlager Nord (ZLN) exclusively for spent fuel from decommissioning the NPPs in Greifswald and Rheinsberg.

According to the new German energy policy additional local interim storage facilities for spent fuel are to be built on the NPP sites. License applications have been introduced for 12 sites; meanwhile one storage is in operation, in all other cases erection of the buildings started.

The waste conditioning facility PKA at the Gorleben site is now completed, but only a limited operation license to repair damaged containers was granted by the competent Länder authority in 2000.

Concerning the final repository, the BMU has in mind that a future facility for all types of radioactive waste will be available around 2030. A working group on the site selection for a possible repository, set up by BMU, has produced a report on a comprehensive and suitable site selection procedure.

2.6.  Research and Development Activities

Basic nuclear research is supported by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research), the applied nuclear research - in particular nuclear reactor safety and repository research - by the BMWi (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology), and regulatory nuclear investigations by BMU (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety). In 2005 all governmental activities concerning research in nuclear energy and decommissioning, including institutional support and fusion research, amounted to € 200 Million Euro. The national development activities on disposal are refinanced by the utilities. Research in nuclear matters at universities and research centers is decreasing. Nothing more is done on future nuclear reactors because of the political decision to phase out nuclear for commercial electricity production (see also chapter 4).

2.7.  International Co-operation and Initiatives

As member state of the EU, OECD/NEA, and IAEA, Germany supports various international programmes in nuclear safety and nuclear waste management. In direct international co-operation Germany also supports projects and organizations, e.g. the licensing and supervisory authorities, technical support organizations and also research institutes.

As EU member Germany takes part in many European nuclear research activities, e.g.:

• PHEBUS-FP programme covering severe accidents on PWR;
• PHARE and TACIS programmes, general projects to support Central Europe and the CIS countries in nuclear safety.

As NEA member, Germany participates, among other things, in:

• the ICDE project on collection and analysis of data on common cause failure event;
• the HALDEN project on fuel and material issues;
• the MASCA project on in-vessel phenomena during a severe accident as a follow up of the RASPLAV project;
• the CABRI project on the behaviour of high burn-up and MOX fuel elements under RIA conditions;
• the MCCI project on melt coolability and concrete interaction;
• the PSB-VVER project on VVER-1000 code validation; and in
• the SETH project on thermal-hydraulic experiments in support of accident management.
• PKL 2 on thermohydrolics at FANP;
• SKIP, the Studsvik cladding integrity project;
• ROSA LSTF on thermohydrolics at JAERI/Japan;
• FIRE, analysis of particular fire events;
• OPDE, piping failure data exchange and
• COMPASS on software based control systems.

3.  NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS

3.1.  Safety Authority and the Licensing Process

In accordance with the federal structure of Germany, its Constitution (Basic Law) bestows upon the Federal Government the responsibility for legislation and regulation regarding "production and utilization of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, construction and operation of facilities serving such purposes, protection against hazards arising from the release of nuclear energy or ionizing radiation and disposal of radioactive substances."

The Atomic Energy Act was promulgated December 23, 1959, right after the Federal Republic of Germany had officially renounced any acquisition, development or use of nuclear weapons. Before the German unification its scope of application was restricted to West Germany (within its boundaries up to 1990) and to the Land Berlin.

In Germany the legislation and its execution must also take into account any binding requirement from regulations of the European Union. With respect to radiation protection there are, e.g., the EURATOM Basic Safety Standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiation. These were issued on the basis of Articles 30 to 33 of the EURATOM Treaty. In accordance with Chapter 7 of the EURATOM Treaty any use of ores, source material and special fissile material is subject to the Safeguards of the European Atomic Energy Community.

With respect to nuclear safety and waste management, the Atomic Energy Act is the core of national regulations in Germany. Its primary purpose is to protect life, health and property against the hazards of nuclear energy and the detrimental effects of ionizing radiation and, furthermore, to provide for the compensation for any damage and injuries incurred. And according to the amendment of 2002, another purpose is to phase out the use of nuclear energy for commercial electricity production: "No further licenses will be issued for the construction and operation of installations for the fission of nuclear fuel for the commercial generation of electricity or of facilities for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel." The Atomic Energy Act is supplemented by the Precautionary Radiation Protection Act, which came about in the wake of the reactor accident at Chernobyl.

These regulations are put into concrete terms by ordinances, by general administrative provisions, by regulatory guidelines, by safety standards of the Nuclear Safety Standards Commission (KTA), by recommendations from the Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) and the Commission on Radiological Protection (SSK) and by conventional technical standards (e.g. DIN). The IAEA Safety Standards are not implemented into national regulations, but national regulations are comparable and much more detailed.

According to the Atomic Energy Act, a license is required for the construction, operation or any other holding of a stationary installation for the production, treatment, processing or fission of nuclear fuel or reprocessing of irradiated fuel (but no further license for commercial NPPs will be granted). A license is also required for essentially modifying such installation or its operation and for decommissioning. The applicant can only be granted a license if he meets the individual requirements spelled out in § 7 Atomic Energy Act as license prerequisites:

• trustworthiness and qualification of the responsible personnel;
• necessary knowledge of the otherwise engaged personnel regarding safe operation of the installation;
• necessary precautions against damage in the light of the state of the art in science and technology;
• necessary financial security with respect to legal liability for paying damage compensation;
• protection against disruptive actions or other interference by third parties; and
• consideration of public interests with respect to environmental impact.

The Radiation Protection Ordinance regulates in a legally binding way the reporting by name of the responsible persons for the radiation protection of the licensee, the dose limits of radiation exposure during operating conditions for the personnel engaged at the plant and for the general public. Furthermore, it contains planning values for doses from potential exposure in case of design basis accidents of NPPs.

Concerning the safety of nuclear power plants, the Federal Environmental Ministry (BMU) has the federal competence, whereas the execution of federal laws lies within the responsibility of the federal states, the Länder. So the licensing of nuclear installations is carried out by the Länder (see Table 8), where different ministries are responsible for licensing of construction, operation, essential modification and decommissioning of nuclear power plants. For technical matters in the licensing procedure and the supervision of nuclear facilities, the regulatory authorities of the Länder are supported by independent technical support organizations, in general the nuclear departments of the Technical Inspection Agencies (TÜV).

The actual details and procedure of licensing are specified in the Nuclear Licensing Procedure Ordinance. It deals specifically with the application procedure, with the submission of supporting documents and with the participation of the general public. It deals, furthermore, with the assessment of any environmental impact and with the consideration of other licensing requirements (e.g. regarding the possible release or discharge of non-radioactive pollutants into air or water).

To preserve the legal uniformity for the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the BMU supervises the licensing and supervisory activities of the Länder authorities (so-called "federal executive administration"). Supervision by BMU includes the right to issue binding directives.

In performing its federal supervision, the BMU is supported by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) in all matters concerning nuclear safety and radiation protection. The BfS is responsible - inter alia - for the construction and operation of nuclear waste repositories, subcontracting for this task with the Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe mbH (DBE). Further advisory support for the BMU comes from the RSK, the SSK and the GRS, a central technical support organization (see Figure 1).

As in licensing, the prime objective of the regulatory supervision of nuclear installations is to protect the general public and workers in these installations against the hazards connected with the operation of the installation. Officials of the supervisory authorities as well as the authorized experts working on behalf of the supervisory authority have access to the nuclear installation at all times and are authorized to perform the necessary examinations and to request any pertinent information. Nuclear installations are subject to continuous regulatory supervision. However, the Länder perform this supervisory procedure on behalf of the Federal Government.

In the case of non-compliance with legal provisions or requirements of the license permit, and whenever it must be suspected that life, health or property of third parties is endangered, the competent supervisory authority of the Land is authorized by § 19 Atomic Energy Act to issue orders stating:

• that protective measures must be applied and, if so, which ones;
• that radioactive materials must be stored at a place prescribed by the authority; and
• that the handling of radioactive materials, the construction and operation of nuclear installations must be interrupted or temporarily or - in case of a revocation of the license - permanently be suspended.

The high safety standards already applied make it highly improbable that serious damage would be caused by nuclear power plants. Nevertheless and with due respect to the potential degree of such a damage, it has always been an essential licensing prerequisite in Germany that sufficient financial security is provided for covering possible claims for damage compensation. Current liability regulations take the Paris Convention (on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy) and the Brussels Supplementary Convention into account. Both conventions have been incorporated into the Atomic Energy Act. The corresponding details are regulated by the Nuclear Financial Security Ordinance. The licensees are required to take out liability insurance policies for a maximum financial sum that is specified in the individual nuclear licensing procedure. The Federal Government and the Land issuing the license jointly carry an additional indemnity which may be claimed by the damaged party. The maximum required financial security from liability insurances is limited to 2 500 million Euro.

The individual power utilities or their subsidiaries are the licensees of the NPPs. They build up financial reserves to be prepared for the follow-up costs connected with the operation of a nuclear power plant such as the decommissioning and dismantling of the installations, and the treatment and disposal of radioactive material including spent fuel. So far, reserves amounting to 35 000 million Euro have been set aside, of which about 45 % are earmarked for decommissioning and dismantling and about 55 % for waste management.

The responsibility for the disposal of radioactive waste lies with the Federation, the BfS is the legally responsible authority. All other radioactive waste management facilities, i.e. spent fuel interim storage, are within the responsibility of the waste producers. The Länder have to construct and operate regional state collecting facilities for the interim storage of radioactive waste originating, in particular, from radioactive applications in medicine, industry, or universities. The protection objective of disposal of radioactive waste in a repository is laid down in the Atomic Energy Act and the Radiation Protection Ordinance. The Federal Mining Act regulates the aspects concerning the operation of a disposal mine. The Safety Criteria for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste in a Mine specify the measures to be taken in order to achieve that this objective has been reached. Presently these Safety Criteria are on review. In addition, environmental legislation must be taken into account, in particular an environmental impact assessment has to be performed.

3.2.  Main National Laws and Regulations on Nuclear Power and Waste Management

• Atomic Energy Act (Atomgesetz)
• Precautionary Radiation Protection Act (Strahlenschutzvorsorgegesetz)
• Environmental Impact Assessment Act (Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfungsgesetz)
• Act on Control of High-activity Sealed Radioactive Sources (Gesetz zur Kontrolle hochaktiver Strahlenquellen)
• Federal Mining Act (Bundesberggesetz)
• Radiation Protection Ordinance (Strahlenschutzverordnung)
• Nuclear Licensing Procedure Ordinance (Atomrechtliche Verfahrensverordnung)
• Nuclear Financial Security Ordinance (Atomrechtliche Deckungsvorsorge-Verordnung)
• Repository Financing Ordinance (Endlagervorausleistungsverordnung)
• Ordinance on the Verification of Trustworthiness (Atomrechtliche Zuverlässigkeitsüberprüfungs-Verordnung)
• Nuclear Safety Commissioner and Reporting Ordinance (Atomrechtliche Sicherheitsbeauftragten- und Meldeverordnung)
• Ordinance on Nuclear Waste Transboundary Movement (Atomrechtliche Abfallverbringungsverordnung)
• Ordinance on the Distribution of Potassiumiodine (Kaliumiodidverordnung)
• Nuclear Power Plant Safety Criteria (Sicherheitskriterien für Kernkraftwerke)
• Safety Criteria for Disposal of Radioactive Wastes in a Mine (Sicherheitskriterien für die Endlagerung radioaktiver Abfälle in einem Bergwerk)

4.  CURRENT ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENT ON NUCLEAR POWER

4.1.  Energy Policy

In 1986, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, political consensus on the use of nuclear energy was lost in Germany. Up to that time, all three parties in parliament had more or less supported the increasing use of nuclear power. Now, society split into two parts, one in favour and one against using nuclear power. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), at that time in opposition to the Federal Government coalition of Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP), adopted a resolution to phase out nuclear power within ten years. It took another twelve years until in September 1998 SPD and the green party won the federal election, together took over the Federal Government and established the nuclear phase out by revision of the Atomic Energy Act.

The political situation regarding the relation between the Federation and the Länder is complicated by changing political majorities. Federation and Länder, both have their responsibilities in nuclear licensing and nuclear safety matters (see chapter 3.1). The Länder are represented in the second parliament chamber (Bundesrat). Since 1982 CDU/FDP led the Federal Government, but the following elections for the Länder resulted in a SPD majority in the Bundesrat. During the period where SPD/Greens were leading the Federal Government, the majority of SPD-governed Länder in the Bundesrat got lost, resulting in a CDU majority up to now.

The intention of the current Federal Government so still is to phase out the use of nuclear power for commercial electricity production. The agreement between the Federal Government and the utilities on the matter was signed in June 2001. In April 2002, the respective amendment to the Atomic Energy Act came into force. The main purpose of the amendment is to terminate in an orderly manner the use of nuclear energy for commercial electricity production. At the same time, safe operation of the NPPs for their remaining operative life-times is to be achieved. Beside the limiting of NPP lifetime to a 32 year equivalent on the average (Table 10), the erection of new NPPs is forbidden. Therefore, the share of nuclear power in the national energy mix will decrease continuously within the next two decades. Furthermore, consensus is sought in the issue of radioactive waste disposal. The utilities agreed to build interim storage facilities at the NPP sites, in order to minimize transports of spent fuel, at least for the near future. Starting from July 2005, the management of spent fuel from the NPPs will be restricted to direct disposal, in spite there is no disposal facility; reprocessing will no longer be permitted.

The German programme for the disposal of radioactive waste is presently under review. BMU aims at erecting one single repository in Germany for all types of radioactive waste by 2030. Further sites in various host rocks should be investigated for suitability. Thus, BMU has set up an expert group to develop new repository site selection criteria and respective procedures on a scientific basis and on thorough discussions with public participation. In 2002 a final report was issued on a comprehensive and suitable site selection procedure. Further decisions will become necessary.

The present German energy policy will not affect Germany’s responsibility regarding its international obligations and does not reduce the efforts towards nuclear safety.

The Federal Government intends to foster a forward-looking and sustainable energy supply policy through improved energy efficiency and enhanced energy savings. In 2002 the Renewable Energy Act (revised in 2004) came into force which promotes the use of renewable energy systems by fixed tariffs for electricity fed into grid. The duration of support is timed and combined with a degression rate of the fixed tariffs. Grid system operators are bound by law to connect plants generating electricity from renewable energy sources to their system and to guarantee priority purchase and transmission of all electricity by such plants. Furthermore the general framework for raising energy efficiency is improved, in particular for combined heat and power production. Nevertheless, within the changing scope of global markets and European energy trade, the liberalization of markets for electricity and natural gas and the commitments to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases have to be taken into account.

TABLE 10. PROJECTED SHUTDOWN OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

4.2.  Privatization and Deregulation

In April 1998, the act on the reorganization of the electricity supply industry came into force in Germany. By this act the European domestic market directive "Electricity" was implemented into German law. The German electricity market was liberalized completely in one step, not using the gradual opening conditions also in line with the directive. Up to this liberalization, the German electricity market had been characterized by closed supply areas. Demarcation areas and supply contracts provided a monopoly position of the respective utility. With the new regulation of April 1998 the competition also started in the electricity market, a dynamically developing process ever since.

After only a few months of competition, the sector already found itself in a transformation of its structures, which had developed throughout decades. The situation was characterized by reorganization of the companies according to "generation", "transportation" and "distribution", by co-operation agreements, transfers of shares in companies and mergers of companies and by the appearance of additional market participants in the new business sector "electricity trade". Among the new market participants there are several companies from abroad - Europe and USA - with financial participations up to 100 %.

At the beginning only special-tariff customers - mainly industry - took advantage of price reductions, later also private households took advantages. The total price reduction for industrial and commercial customers reached up to 40 % comparing 1995 and 2000, for private customers up to 20 %. Electricity price increases in the years 2003/2004 offset these price reductions, though. Since 2000, the special measures resulting from governmental decisions on environmental policy (e.g. taxes like "Ökosteuer" and subsidies to increase the share of renewables) made prices rise again. In 1998 the governmental share in all electricity cost amounted to 2 300 million €, whereas in 2002 it already rose to 9 440 million €. For the average private household the governmental share in the electricity price amounts to about 40 % in 2004. With the liberalization of the market the closed supply areas where obsolete, customer now can choose their power supplier. Under these tightening financial circumstances backfitting of plant safety, maintenance and review of the nuclear power plants have to be carried out.

Following the requirements of European legislation and of the government's Monitoring Report of August 2003 Germany will install a regulatory authority for the electricity and gas sector in the forthcoming months. The draft of a new Energy Industry Act of July 2004 assigns the tasks of the electricity and gas regulator to the former Regulatory Authority of Telecommunications and Post. The organizational structures and the distribution of responsibilities between the regulator and the anti-trust agencies are included in the same legal framework.

4.3.  Role of the Government in Nuclear R&D

For activities supported by the Federal Government see chapter 2.6 and 2.7. Besides that, the Association of Major Power Utilities (VGB), of which all German and several foreign licensees of nuclear power plants are members, annually spends between approximately € 2 and 3 millions for the evaluation and feed-back of operating experience. In addition, VGB has financed about 350 projects over the past ten years, three-quarters of which - for a total amount of about € 70 million - were directly aimed at improving safety.

4.4.  Nuclear Energy and Climate Change

The position of the German Government with respect to CO2 emissions creates a new challenge for the electricity supply industry, further enhanced by the scheduled phase-out of nuclear power. In the course of the climate debate, Germany committed itself in 1995 to reduce CO2 emissions by 25 % compared to 1990, by the year 2005. Part of the challenge could be achieved by closing down aged and inefficient industries and power productions in the former GDR and erection of new facilities. But in the meantime it is no longer sufficient to replace old devices by current technologies. A strong reduction in the burning of hydrocarbon fuels will be necessary. The options for the electricity supply industry are to increase energy efficiency, both in electricity generation and end-use consumption, and to switch to generating technologies which do not burn fossil fuel. For the public it means to reduce energy consumption in general. In 2004 the CO2 emission volume was 850 Mt CO2, which is 15 % less than the 1004 Mt CO2 in 1990, the number is more or less constant since 1999. But for the electricity supply industry alone, which makes around one third of the CO2 emission in Germany, numbers are increasing again since 1999.

Furthermore, in the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention on Climate Change in 1997, the European Union ensured that their overall emission of greenhouse gases will be at least 8 % below the 1990 level in 2012. According to a burden sharing of the European Union in 1998, Germany has to reduce 21 % of its overall greenhouse gases compared to the 1990 level. Already 18 % had been achieved by 2004, with the government being confident that the reduction shortfall will be achieved by the end of 2008.

REFERENCES

Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden, http://www.destatis.de

Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit http://www.bmwa.bund.de

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Energiebilanzen http://www.ag-energiebilanzen.de

Report under the Convention on Nuclear Safety by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Third Review Meeting in April 2005, http://www-ns.iaea.org/conventions

Report under the Joint Convention by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the First Review Meeting in Mai 2006, http://www-ns.iaea.org/conventions/

Appendix 1

INTERNATIONAL (MULTILATERAL AND BILATERAL) AGREEMENTS

BILATERAL AGREEMENTS CONCERNING THE SAFETY OF NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS AND RADIATION PROTECTIO

With the following 58 countries Germany concluded in total 182 bilateral agreements on the safety of nuclear installation or radiation protection:
Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republik, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldava, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan

Appendix 2

DIRECTORY OF THE MAIN ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS AND COMPANIES INVOLVED IN NUCLEAR POWER RELATED ACTIVITIES