The decommissioning guide. A practical help for practice?

The States Committee for Atomic Energy decided at the June, 4-5, 1996 meeting of its Central Commission to use the 'Guide for Decommissioning Facilities under Sec. 7 of the German Atomic Energy Act' as a tool representing a collection of legally and technically relevant aspects for planning and executing licensing procedures and government supervisory functions in nuclear decommissioning projects. The test of the Guide was published in the 'Bundesanzeiger', the German Federal Gazette, on November 12, 1996. How this Guide can be of practical help is outlined in the article. Considerable success has been achieved in recent years in decommissioning power reactors and research reactors in the Federal Republic of Germany. This is true both of the technical execution of disassembly and demolition work, and of licensing and supervision under the Atomic Energy Act. The Niederaichbach Nuclear Power Station has been demolished completely, and the site has been cleared for re-use. Decommissioning and disassembly of the Gundremmingen A, MZFR, VAK, FR-2, and KNK II plants proceeds according to schedule. Before the operating permits issued by the authorities of the GDR for the Greifswald and Rheinsberg Nuclear Power Stations expired, the competent authorities in the State of Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania and Brandenburg issued comprehensive decommissioning permits under Sec. 7, Subsec. 3 of the German Atomic Energy Act. Disassembly and dismantling work is in progress. When the Decommissioning Guide was drafted, discussed and written between 1991 and 1996, representatives of all nuclear authorities in those federal states contributed in which the decommissioning projects listed above, and others, were to be regulated. Also the associations of permit holders and operators of nuclear facilities were heard at an early stage. It may be assumed therefore that there has been feedback from practice already in the discussion phase. (orig.)