Example of establishing the recycling of scrap metal as a waste management option within German regulations

The German Atomic Energy Act (Atomgesetz, AtG) specifies the German nuclear licensing and supervising regulations. On that basis the German federal states are responsible for licensing and supervising of nuclear power plants (NPPs) located in that state. The Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Areas (MELUR) is the authority responsible for the state Schleswig-Holstein, in which the NPPs Brokdorf, Brunsbuettel, Kruemmel and the research reactor HZG are located. In the licensing and supervisory procedures the authority may consult authorized experts. In addition to the AtG, the German Radiation Protection Ordinance (Strahlenschutzverordnung, StrlSchV) specifies regulations for clearance according to the 10 μSv-concept. The clearance of metal by recycling / melting is one option within the regulations of the StrlSchV. For a clearance an additional license given by the MELUR is necessary. In that license and the application documents as well as in the supervisory procedures very specific regulations are implemented. This includes regulations for clearance at third parties in foreign countries. In this talk a short introduction to the German regulations focussed on clearance according to the 10 μSv-concept will be given. The specific regulations in the license of clearance will be presented and also the application documents for NPPs in Schleswig-Holstein will be discussed. Furthermore it will be illustrated on what terms the MELUR decided to agree upon the recycling of scrap metal with the aim of clearance according to Radiation Protection 89 in foreign countries along with the German regulatory framework. (authors)