Country report Germany

Germany, there are 19 operating nuclear power plants, with a total installed capacity of 21.4 GWe. In 2002, the electricity production of these 19 nuclear power plants amounted to 165 TWh, i.e. 1/3 of the total electricity production. The average availability of the German nuclear power plants was 85.6 % (this low value is due to the unexpected outage of some NPPs). The expressed goal of the German Federal Government is to phase out of nuclear energy without paying compensations to the utilities. On 11 June 2001, the final agreement between the German utilities and the German Federal Government was signed, and the amendment to the German Atomic Law (AtG-Novelle) was enforced on 27 April 2002. The overall objective of the new AtG is changed from 'support of nuclear energy' to 'fix phase-out of nuclear energy'. After the German parliament elections, the new Government coalition formulated a Coalition Contract which has the following statements on Nuclear Energy: - Work out an energy research programme which gives first priority to renewable energies and energy efficiency, - Assess termination of EURATOM membership, - Terminate nuclear electricity production on the base of a guaranteed total amount of electricity produced (in GWh),No reprocessing after 2005, - Erection of interim storages at nuclear power plant sites, - Support of research to improve safety of existing reactors, - Stop of national support for development of techniques for nuclear energy production (this includes fission and fusion). The German Committee on a Selection Procedure for Repository Sites (AkEnd) was established 1998 by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) reached agreement on the following main issues: - One final repository concept, - Storage in deep geological formation starting about 2030, - Isolation for 1 million years, - Under-ground exploration of at lease two sites, - One selection criteria for the final repository is the transparency of selection procedure. As regards the nuclear energy research in Germany, the 'Alliance for Competence in Nuclear Technology' with the main partners FZK, FZJ, FZR, GRS, and associated universities compiled a summary report on the status of nuclear safety research in the country. The mission of this Alliance is to increase the efficiency of existing R and D activities in the areas of nuclear safety and repository research, to preserve complementary competence at universities, and to support the Federal Government in fulfilling its legal duties. The Alliance established an industry funded project for PhD students in order to strengthen education in nuclear technology and to prevent a loss of competence. The two nuclear research centers Karlsruhe (FZK) and Juelich (FZJ) are members of the Helmholtz Association (HGF). The mission of the HGF is to perform and foster research in the field of natural sciences and medicine which is of national importance and public interest. The HGF is the largest science organisation in Germany, encompassing 15 centres with 24000 employees and a yearly budget of about 2.1 billion EUR. The HGF covers six research areas: health, energy, environment, structure of matter, transportation and space, and key technologies. Within the energy research area, there are four programmes: renewable energies, efficient conversion of energy, fusion technology, and nuclear safety research. The programme Nuclear Safety Research is divided into two programme topics (PT). The programme Nuclear Safety Research was evaluated in February 2003 by an international Evaluation Committee with the following main results: The proposed research programme is scientifically excellent and well embedded in international cooperations and programmes; The strategy and long-term perspectives in PT1 are limited according to the given research-political restrictions (no work using public funding on innovative reactor systems is permitted); The recruitment and education of young scientists and engineers has to be improved by participation in international bodies and innovative projects (however, this can only be achieved by using third-party funding); The staff within PT1 'Safety research for nuclear reactors' has to be increased considerably, otherwise it risks to turn subcritical; The staff within PT2 'Safety research for nuclear waste disposal' has to be kept constant