Founding and setting up BASE

Workplace at BASE Source: BASE

BASE was established in 2014 under its former name of “The Federal Office for Nuclear Disposal” (BfE). The workforce at the time consisted of a few employees in the administration department. At the German government’s request, further development was shelved between 2014 and 2016. The aim was not to pre-empt the results and recommendations of the Final Storage Commission, which was still discussing matters at that time. During this time, the administrative head at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Reactor Safety (now the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection BMUV) headed the office temporarily.

Four departments newly established since 2016

Wolfram König was appointed President of BASE in summer 2016. He was head of BASE until 31 January 2024. The amended Atomic Energy Act stipulated that tasks handled by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) were to be transferred to BASE – this involved the licensing tasks for storing and transporting high-level radioactive waste as well as activities related to nuclear safety.

The associated transfer of staff from BfS to BASE took place on 30 January 2017. Two of the four departments envisaged for BASE were thus fully operational. Four other departments of BASE - for supervision, public participation, research and administration - were newly set up from 2017 onwards. Around 455 employees now work for the Federal Office (as of January 2024). Christian Kühn will take office as president on 15 February 2024.

Offices in Berlin, Salzgitter, Cologne and Bonn

During a transitional period, BASE had offices on the premises of the BMUV and later the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin, as well as in another rented property. In January 2020, BASE moved to its new headquarters at Wegelystraße 8, near the Tiergarten in Berlin. By now, it also uses additional properties in the direct vicinity. Further offices are located in Salzgitter, Cologne and Bonn.

Public relations work and public participation

In contrast to other organisations like BGE, BASE was not able to make use of any existing infrastructure such as information points, information materials and staff for its public relations work, which is a major part of its task according to the Site Selection Act. Development work was therefore necessary here, too, both in terms of staff and materials. Furthermore, BASE needed to attract staff and establish structures for its public participation department.

The tasks regarding public participation in the search for a repository site were, at first, pooled with supervisory activities in the site selection procedure. To map these two different task areas more clearly, BASE set up a new department called “Public participation”. In addition to clarifying the separation of duties, this also allows BASE to address the increase in staffing in this area, which was required as tasks have grown, and formal participation formats have begun.

Safeguarding sites

BASE is involved in licensing procedures for mining projects – for example, those using geothermal heat or extracting raw materials – to protect possible repository sites from any negative changes. This task was only specified during the final phase of discussions regarding the Site Selection Act. The discussions did not primarily focus on how many employees would be needed for this new task. When the law came into force, BASE thus established a working group comprising staff members from different subject fields to deal with these tasks in a timely manner.