Report of the Federal Government concerning the fundamentals and practice of the calling of experts in the course of nuclear licensing and supervisory procedures

The German Federal Government feels the result of this report confirms its view expressed earlier vis-a-vis the Internal Affairs Committee of the German Federal Diet that the system of the Federal States implementing certain federal laws and regulations on behalf of the Federal Government (Bundesauftragsverwaltung) in principle had proved to work satisfactorily in the implementation of the German Atomic Energy Act and would continue to be used as an instrument combining the objectives of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, especially protection from the hazards of nuclear energy and the safe continuity of energy supply. This finding of the indubitable merits achieved through linking central and decentralized administrative structures, as is the practice in the Federal Republic of Germany with respect to the Atomic Energy Act on the basis of cooperative federal efforts in contrast to centralist countries, must also include the practice, in line with such structures, of calling in experts under Sec. 20 of the Atomic Energy Act on the basis of a decentralized scheme. Special attention must be devoted to the question of the non-partisanship of experts, now that it has become customary in the Federal States to call in mainly the Technische Ueberwachungs-Vereine (Technical Inspectorates, TUEV) as experts under Sec. 20 of the Atomic Energy Act, which are independent industrial organizations with their own admnistrations. However, even in this case statutory and institutionalized administrative measures in principle have proved to function, which allow the responsible authorities to call in the Technical Inspectorates to support government organizations in assessing and monitoring plant safety. (orig./HP)