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Interim Storage & Transport

Transport - Storage - Surveillance of Radioactive Waste

Safety of Nucleare Waste Management

On-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein)

  • At present, no effective storage licence exists for the on-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel, since the original licence became ineffective as a result of a decision of the Federal Administrative Court of 8 January 2015.
  • Kernkraftwerk Brunsbüttel GmbH & Co. oHG applied again for a licence for the storage of nuclear fuel in the on-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel on 16 November 2015.
  • The BfE cannot provide any detailed information as to the duration of the licensing procedure. It depends significantly on whether the application documents are available complete and in the required quality.
  • Legal basis for the current storage of spent fuel elements is a supervisory order issued by the Ministry of Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment and Agrarian Areas of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is limited until January 2018 at the latest.

Kernkraftwerk Brunsbüttel GmbH & Co. oHG (KKB) (a subsidiary of Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy GmbH) operates an interim storage for nuclear fuels on the premises of the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant. Nine casks of the CASTOR®V/52 type containing spent fuel elements from the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant are currently stored in there. At present, no effective storage licence exists for the on-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel, since the original licence became ineffective as a result of a decision of the Federal Administrative Court of 8 January 2015. On 16 November 2015, KKB therefore applied for a new licence to the then responsible licensing authority, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS). Since 30 July 2016, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BfE) has been the licensing authority for the storage of nuclear fuels in interim storage facilities and has continued this procedure.

Legal basis for the current storage of spent fuel elements is a supervisory order issued by the Ministry of Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment and Agrarian Areas of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is limited until January 2018 at the latest. The purpose of the supervisory order is to bridge the time until KKB has obtained a new licence for the storage of nuclear fuel in the on-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel or another licensed storage option.

The on-site interim storage facility

The on-site interim storage facility was commissioned on 5 February 2006 with the emplacement of the first cask. It has over 80 cask storage positions. On 31 December 2015, nine casks containing fuel elements were stored there.

A more detailed survey of the existing on-site interim storage facility is given in the following short description (in German). It was created for the public participation in the first licensing procedure and is not part of the running licensing procedure.

The new application

With letter dated 16 November 2015, KKB applied for a new licence for the storage of nuclear fuel in the already existing and operated on-site interim storage facility. As the original licence, it is granted until 4 February 2046.

The application comprises the storage of all nuclear fuel already stored in the interim storage facility or that is still in the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant. It is planned to use the existing storage building for this. As a result of the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant having shut down prematurely, only 24 out of altogether 80 storage positions in the on-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel are needed for the storage of the fuel elements from the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant. The total thermal capacity, total mass of heavy metal, total activity applied for and the number of the required cask storage positions are thus lower than laid down in the original licence.

Besides, the contents of all modification licences applied for and/or granted by 8 January 2015 are components of the new licensing procedure (details cf. "earlier licensing procedures").

This is what the procedure looks like

Survey of licensing procedures

If one intends to store nuclear fuel in an interim storage facility outside a nuclear power plant, this requires a licence granted by the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BfE).

A description of a licensing procedure and what aspects are examined by BfE, can be found in more detail in the chapter on Licensing of interim storage facilities for nuclear fuels

To be granted a licence, KKB must prove that the storage of nuclear fuels applied for is in compliance with the licensing requirements pursuant to § 6 para. 2 no. 1 to 4 AtG. This includes, among others, the safety of storage according to the state of the art of science and technology and the protection against terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage.

In the course of the licensing procedure, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) with public participation needs to be conducted. In the context of public participation, a public hearing lasting two days took place under the lead of the BfE. Citizens discussed their objections with the applicant and the responsible authorities. The objectives are to be taken into account in subsequent stages of the licensing procedure. The BfE cannot provide any detailed information as to the duration of the licensing procedure. It depends significantly on whether the application documents are available complete and in the required quality.

Documents relating to the environmental impact assessment

The documents relating to the plans for the KKB were laid open to public inspection within the framework of the public participation as part of the environmental impact assessment. From 11 January 2017 up to and including 10 March 2017, the following documents were laid open to public inspection at the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management, at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and at the Citizens’ Office of the city of Brunsbüttel (documents in German only):

More details on addresses and opening hours and on the prerequisites for making objections can be found in the official notice (in German only) of the project.

E-accessibility of the published documents:

The BfE will address the following specific objectives in the context of the "Barrier-free information technology ordinance (BITV)", to make available as many contents as possible in a form that they can be used by all users irrespective of possibly existing physical disabilities or technical restrictions. The applicant of the current licensing procedure has been informed about the requirements. Unfortunately not all documents of KKB to be published are available in the appropriate digital form. Some documents are therefore marked "not barrier-free".

Earlier licences

Earlier licences

The original storage licence for nuclear fuels in the Brunsbüttel on-site interim storage facility was applied for on 30 November 1999 and granted on 28 November 2003. The licence was limited to 40 years following the first emplacement of a loaded casks (on 5 February 2006). In the following years it was modified through two modification licences and one subsequent requirement; three further modifications of the licence were applied for.

With the decision of the Federal Administrative Court of 8 January 2015, the original licence and thus the granted modification licences became ineffective. The current modification procedures thus became irrelevant. KKB has meanwhile withdrawn the corresponding applications.

Licences for the on-site interim storage facility granted until 8 January 2015 (in German)

Modifications applied for until 8 January 2015

  • Use of the transport and storage cask CASTOR®V/52 (modification, inventory)
  • Extension of the protection from disruptive actions or other third-party intervention (SEWD) (in German)
  • Storage of quivers containing special fuel elements in casks of the CASTOR®V/52 type

Court proceedings

Court proceedings

A resident living several kilometres away from the interim storage facility filed a suit against the licence of 28 November 2003 at the Schleswig Higher Administrative Court on 17 February 2004. He considered his rights to life, health and ownership infringed by the Federal Republic of Germany. In particular he questioned that the storage licence would guarantee sufficient protection against the targeted crash of a passenger plane and against bombardment with anti-tank weapons.

Following protracted litigation, the administrative courts found in favour of the resident: With decision of 19 June 2013, the Schleswig Higher Administrative Court withdrew the licence. The judgment has become effective with the decision of the Federal Administrative Court of 8 January 2015.

Neither court decision was not taken because one had determined that the interim storage facility was not sufficiently safe. The courts have not made any statements regarding the issue of the actual safety, e.g. against terrorist attacks. Subject to criticism was the extent of the investigations made in the licensing procedure in this area.

In the court proceedings the BfS, the competent licensing authority at that time, had documented that it had examined all aspects comprehensively when granting the licence (in particular the consequences of a targeted air crash). However, the BfS was not entitled to provide the courts with all available documents, because part of the papers were documents that had to be classified for the protection against terrorist attacks.

Supervisory order

Supervisory order

Legal basis for the present storage of spent fuel in the on-site interim storage facility Brunsbüttel is a supervisory order of the Ministry of Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment and Agrarian Areas of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein as the competent nuclear supervisory authority dated 19 January 2015.

Based on the order pursuant to § 19 para. 3 AtG, the nuclear fuel that has already been stored in the interim storage facility can remain there for the duration of a licensing procedure pursuant to § 6 AtG, but maximum for three years. The order commits KKB as operator of the on-site interim storage facility furthermore to provide immediately licensed storage of the nuclear fuel.

State of 2017.03.24

© Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management