Decommissioning and the rights of the licensee

The decommissioning licence consitutes a privilege for the licensee, leaving it up to the license wheter he will use this privilege or not. Supplementary provisions to the operating licence or regulatory surveillance measures may not be applied to force an operator to accept a decommissioning licence according to Paragraph 7 sub-sec. (3) Atomic Energy Act. Individual, originally operation-related activities may be 'backfitted' to be valid for and deal withh decommissioning work, but the question 'decommissioning yes/nor' will always have to be decided on the basis of Paragraph 7 sub-sec. (3) Atomic Energy Act. The future licensee has the right to claim a correct application of the regulatory provisions for decommissioning, and a correct performance of the procedure provided for by the law. This is a basic right emanating from the principle of lawfulness of the administration. Operators of nuclear facilities possibly are disconcerted by the false thesis frequently to be heard, that nuclear installation operators cannot claim basic rights. There certainly are a variety of rights set out by the law in connection with a decommissioning licence, but it is up to the operator to make use of them. (orig./HSCH)