Nuclear supervision - Administration by the federal states on behalf of the Federal Government or direct federal administration? Evaluation from a practical point of view

The organization of supervisory authorities under the Atomic Energy Act is not a new issue. In fact, it was discussed vehemently in the Federal Republic of Germany as far back as in the early fifties. Federal legislation in late 1959 decided to have the Atomic Energy Act executed in part under direct federal responsibility and, as far as the important supervision of the nuclear power plants operated in the Federal Republic of Germany was concerned, by the federal states on behalf of the federal government. Federal Minister for the Environment Trittin reopened the debate about the organization of nuclear administration by announcing his intention to transfer the supervision of nuclear power plants to direct federal administration. This announcement not only raises the question of legal permissibility of transferring nuclear power plant oversight to federal administration, but also requires a critical review, as presented in this article, of practical regulatory supervision to ensure safe operation of nuclear facilities. In this connection, both the actual content of supervisory activities and the way in which they are carried out must be examined in an effort to find an answer based on solid premises to the question raised above. For reasons explained in the contribution, oversight of nuclear power plants cannot be carried out as a centralized function. Instead, the legislative decision of 1959 in favor of the federal states exercising supervision on behalf of the federal government continues to be correct at the present stage also in the light of the steps initiated to opt out of the peaceful uses of nuclear power. (orig.)