Decommissioning situation in the Federal Republic of Germany

Consideration on decommissioning in the licensing procedure is presented. The results of the studies presented in this paper lead to the conclusion that nuclear power plants can be removed with the means known today, including on a short-term basis; however, a preceding limited period of protective storage is clearly more expedient if only for radiological reasons, i.e., radiation exposure of the personnel, as well as for cost reasons. Although no nuclear power plant has been decommissioned by complete removal to date in the Federal Republic of Germany, various phases of decommissioning work have been conducted or are currently in the planning stage with experimental and pilot nuclear power plants, and research reactors. The status of 7 various projects is discussed