BMUB Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety BfS Federal Office for Radiation Protection 1 October 2014 Nuclear Regulatory Issues and Main Developments in Germany 2 Contents 1. General 2. Operation and Decommissioning of German Nuclear Power Plants a) Event Registration b) Licensing and Supervisory Issues c) Safety Reviews d) Residual Electricity Production Rights e) Decommissioning of Prototype and Power Reactors 3. Laws and Regulations a) Matters under International Law b) National Regulation c) Recommendations 4. Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management a) Nuclear Waste Management Policy on Repositories b) Repositories for Radioactive Waste c) Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel d) Nuclear Fuel Fabrication and Reprocessing e) Transports 5. Radiation Protection Abbreviations AVR Jülich Experimental Nuclear Power Plant BfE Federal Office for the Regulation of Nuclear Waste Management BfS Federal Office for Radiation Protection BMUB Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conversation, Building and Nuclear Safety BDEW Federal Association of Energy and Water Economy e.V. BWR Boiling Water Reactor MWe Megawatt electrical power NPP Nuclear Power Plant PWR Pressurized Water Reactor TWh Terawatt hour 3 1 October 2014 1. General In December 2013, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit – BMU) was renamed to Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit – BMUB). As a consequence of the nuclear accident at the NPP Fukushima Daiichi, on 11 March 2011 in Japan, the German legislator decided to phase out the use of nuclear power for the commercial generation of electricity on a step-by-step basis. The authorisation for power operation of the seven oldest nuclear power plants and the Krümmel nuclear power plant expired on 6 August 2011. For the three plants recently commissioned, the authorisation for power operation will expire in 2022 at the latest; for the other plants on a step-by-step basis until 2015/2017/2019/2021 at the latest The authorisation for power operation of a NPP expires even before the expiry date in case the electricity volume as stipulated in the Atomic Energy Act (specific for each NPP) has been produced. The transfer of electricity volumes under certain requirements is still possible, provided that the respective end times are adhered to. In accordance with the Act on the Site Search and Selection of a Repository for Heat-generating Radioactive Waste (Repository Site Selection Act) a committee has been set up in order to evaluate the Repository Site Selection Act and to propose/ recommend a procedure for the site selection process as well as to draw up and present proposals concerning inter alia safety requirements and geological selection/ exclusion criteria by the end of 2015. The committee consists of 33 members representing different parts of society, i.e. science, public groups, Bundestag and Bundesrat and commenced operation in May 2014. The German Bundestag will decide on the major steps of the site selection process. For further information about the committee, see http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/ausschuesse18/a16/standortauswahl. On 1 September 2014, the Federal Office for the Regulation of Nuclear Waste Management (Bundesamt für kerntechnische Entsorgung – BfE) started to operate. According to the Repository Site Selection Act, the BfE shall regulate the site selection process after the committee’s work has finished and the decisionmaking criteria have been laid down in law. Currently, the BfE has the task to ensure the refinancing of the site selection process. For more information, see http://www.bfe.bund.de/en/. Electricity production and nuclear share The gross electricity production reached 633.6 TWh in 2013 (629.9 TWh in 2012). The nuclear share in the gross electricity production in 2013 was 15.4 %, decreasing from 15.8 % in 2012 and 17.7 % in 2011. The shares of the different energy sources are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Table 1: Gross electricity production 2011 - 2013 [TWh] 2011 TWh 2012 % TWh 2013* % TWh % Nuclear 108.0 17.7 99.5 15.8 97.3 15.4 Lignite 150.1 24.7 160.7 25.5 162.0 25.6 Hard Coal 112.4 18.5 116.4 18.5 124.0 19.6 Oil 6.8 1.1 7.6 1.2 6.4 1.0 Gas 82.5 13.5 76.4 12.1 66.8 10.5 123.5 20.3 143.6 22.8 151.7 23.9 25.6 4.2 25.7 4.1 25.4 4.0 608.9 100.0 629.9 100.0 633.6 100.0 Renewables Others Total [Data from BDEW e.V. February 2014] * preliminary data 4 1 October 2014 Table 2: Gross electricity production of renewable energy sources 2011 - 2013 [TWh] 2011 TWh TWh 2013* % TWh % Water 17.7 2.9 21.8 3.5 20.5 3.2 Wind Power 48.9 8.0 50.7 8.0 53.4 8.4 Solar Power 19.3 3.2 26.4 4.2 30.0 4.7 Biomass 32.8 5.4 39.7 6.3 42.6 6.7 4.8 0.8 5.0 0.8 5.2 0.8 0.02 ** 0.03 ** 0.04 ** 123.5 20.3 143.6 22.8 151.7 23.9 Refuse Geothermal Energy Total [Data from BDEW e.V. February 2014] 2. 2012 % * preliminary data ** the share is very low and not mentioned Operation and Decommissioning of German Nuclear Power Plants At present, there are 9 nuclear power reactors (7 PWR and 2 BWR) in operation with a gross capacity of 12,702 MWe. a) Event Registration During the period 1 January to 30 June 2014, a total number of 33 events according to the National Reporting Criteria were reported from German NPPs to the Incident Registration Centre at the BfS. The monthly as well as the annual reports on reportable events of German NPPs and research reactors are available on BfS website http://www.bfs.de/de/kerntechnik/ereignisse/berichte_meldepflichtige_ereignisse. b) Licensing and Supervisory Issues According to the Atomic Energy Act the authorisation for power operation of the seven oldest nuclear power plants (Biblis A, Neckarwestheim 1, Biblis B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Unterweser and Philippsburg 1) and the Krümmel NPP expired on 6 August 2011. In 2014, four licenses for decommissioned facilities have been granted so far. c) Safety Reviews In addition to the existing regulatory supervision and inspection of nuclear power plants, Safety Reviews (SR) at a 10-years interval are a legally binding requirement laid down in § 19 a of the Atomic Energy Act – including dates of submission. Probabilistic Safety Analyses are required as part of these Safety Reviews. The obligation to present the SR results is lifted if the licensee makes the binding declaration to the licensing and supervisory authority that he is definitely going to terminate power operation no later than three years after the final date for submission of the SR. Germany participated in the EU stress test – the review of the safety of NPPs on the basis of a comprehensive and transparent risk and safety assessment - and in its Follow-up process. In countryspecific action plans (National Action Plans) the actions taken, planned or implemented are described including a schedule to improve the safety of NPPs. The National Action Plans are publicly available and shall be updated regularly. In order to share lessons learned on the implementation of post-Fukushima safety improvements, these plans were peer reviewed at an ENSREG workshop in April 2013. It was stated that Germany’s NPPs already completed significant enhancements to robustness ahead of the Fukushima events, e.g. filtered containment venting and mobile diesel generator equipment. The German National Action Plan identified that further work is required in some technical areas which are relevant to the stress test. Some of these actions were completed in 2013, with some left to be completed in 2014/2015. The recommendations of the National Action Plan are integrated in the German National Report under the Convention on Nuclear Safety for the sixth review meeting. For more information see http://www.ensreg.eu/EU-Stress-Tests. 1 October 2014 d) 5 Residual Electricity Production Rights Electricity volumes (Residual Electricity Production Rights) are specified in the Atomic Energy Act. The Atomic Energy Act requires a yearly publication of the status on residual electricity production rights. The status as of 31 December 2013 has been published by BfS in the Bundesanzeiger (Federal Gazette) on 13 May 2014 and on the BfS website. More information about electricity production rights can be found on the BfS website http://www.bfs.de/en/kerntechnik/KTA/kkw/laufzeiten.html e) Decommissioning of Prototype and Power Reactors Overall, in Germany 27 nuclear power plants (NPPs) and prototype reactors were permanently shut down. Three of them (KKN in Niederaichbach, HDR in Grosswelzheim and VAK in Kahl) were completely dismantled. The sites were restored to “green-field conditions” and released from nuclear regulatory control. Two of the NPPs (KWL in Lingen and THTR-300 in Hamm-Uentrop) are in safe enclosure. For 14 NPPs the dismantling is in progress with “green-field conditions” being the planning target. For the permanently shut down Biblis NPP Unit A and Unit B (Unit A: PWR 1225 MWe, Unit B: PWR 1300 MWe) applications were made for the decommissioning of the plants on 6 August 2012. Furthermore, applications for decommissioning of the permanently shut down Unterweser NPP (PWR 1410 MWe) and Isar 1 NPP (BWR 912 MWe) were made on 4 May 2012. For the Brunsbüttel NPP (BWR 806 MWe) an application for decommissioning was made on 1 November 2012. On 24 April 2013, applications for decommissioning were filed for Neckarwestheim 1 NPP (PWR 840 MWe) and for Philippsburg 1 NPP (BWR 926 MWe). An application for decommissioning was filed for Grafenrheinfeld NPP (PWR 1345 MWe) on 28 March 2014. 3. Laws and Regulations a) Matters under International Law Germany is Contracting Party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The sixth Review Meeting took place from 24 March to 4 April 2014. The German National Report for the Review Meeting was prepared and made available to the Contracting Parties. The report is published on the BMUB internet in German: http://www.bmub.bund.de/N50167/ and in English: http://www.bmub.bund.de/N50198-1/ Further information is available on the BMUB internet: http://www.bmub.bund.de/P1413-1/ and on the BfS internet: http://www.bfs.de/en/kerntechnik/sicherheit/international/cns. At the sixth Review Meeting it was agreed to convene a Diplomatic Conference in 2015 to consider a proposed amendment to the CNS text to address the design and construction of both existing and new nuclear power plants. Germany is Contracting Party to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The Fourth National Report was published on the website of BMUB: http://www.bmub.bund.de/N47894-1/. The Fourth Review Meeting took place in May 2012. For more information please see BfS internet: http://www.bfs.de/en/transport/entsorgungs_konvention.html/vierte_ueberpruefungskonferenz_2012.html. The Fifth Review Meeting will take place in May 2015. On 14 August 2014, the amendment of the Council Directive 2009/71/EURATOM establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations came into force. Changes made concern for example the nuclear safety objective, safety culture, transparency and the introduction of topical peer reviews. The provisions of the Council Directive shall be transposed into national legislation by 14 August 2017. b) National Regulation Developments concerning the Repository Site Selection Act and activities related to this Act have been covered in chapter 1. 1 October 2014 6 For information on currently valid regulatory documents see: http://www.bfs.de/bfs/recht. English translations available thereof are documented for download at: http://www.bfs.de/en/bfs/recht/rsh/englisch.html. The German Nuclear Safety Standards Commission (KTA) During the 68th meeting of the KTA on 19 November 2013 in Berlin, the following decisions were taken: Nine standardization projects were discontinued and withdrawn: KTA 3508, KTA GL, BR 1, BR 2, BR 3, BR 4, BR 5, BR 6, BR 7. Nine KTA safety standards were reviewed for the need of updating. For the eight standards KTA 1301.2, 1408.1, 1408.2, 1408.3, 3204, 3211.4, 3404 and 3705 revision procedures were started. One of the reviewed standards was re-affirmed for another five years: KTA 3602. One new draft safety standard was approved: KTA 3206. One new KTA safety standard was approved: KTA 2201.3. Eleven revised draft safety standards were approved: KTA 1301.2, 2201.5, 2201.6, 3205.2, 3211.4, 3404, 3503, 3505, 3507, 3702 and 3705. Ten revised KTA safety standards were approved: KTA 1401, 1404, 1502, 1503.1, 1503.2, 1503.3, 3201.2, 3211.2, 3704 and 3901. For detailed information on the KTA safety standards mentioned above see the KTA website: http://www.kta-gs.de/welcome_engl.htm. - The 69th meeting of the KTA is planned for 11 November 2014 in Hannover. c) Recommendations BMUB is supported by three advisory committees regarding nuclear safety, waste management and radiation protection. The Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) issued recently the following recommendations or statements: Single-phase or two-phase loss of the main grid, standby grid or emergency power grid connection (recommendation 06/14, in German) The RSK guideline for the implementation of integrated event analysis in comparison with the VGB guideline on the integrated event analysis (statement 05/14, in German) Assessment of the coverage of extreme weather conditions by the existing design (statement 11/13) RSK’s understanding of safety philosophy (recommendation 08/13, in German) The complete listing of recommendations and statements by RSK is available on the website http://www.rskonline.de/English/index.html. - The Nuclear Waste Management Commission (ESK) recently issued the following statements: State of preparations in providing radioactive waste packages for the Konrad repository (statement 07/14, in German) ESK guidelines for the performance of periodic safety reviews and on technical ageing management for storage facilities for spent fuel and heat-generating radioactive waste (recommendation 03/14) ESK stress test for nuclear fuel cycle facilities in Germany, Part 2: Storage facilities for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, stationary facilities for the conditioning of low- and intermediate level radioactive waste, disposal for radioactive waste – revised version of 18 October 2013 (statement 10/13) For further information, see the website http://www.entsorgungskommission.de/englisch/default.htm. - The Commission on Radiological Protection (SSK) issued recommendations and statements on the following topics: - Radiation protection issues arising from the use of new energies, summary and evaluation of the closed meeting 2013 of the German Commission on Radiological Protection (statement 04/14) Planning iodine thyroid blocking in the vicinity of decommissioned nuclear power plants (recommendation 04/14) Basic radiological principles for decisions on measures for the protection of the population against incidents involving releases of radionuclides (recommendation 02/14) Planning areas for emergency response near nuclear power plants (recommendation 02/14) Questions concerning the build-up and operation of emergency units (statement 02/14) 1 October 2014 - 7 Implementation of article 65 (2) of the new European Basic Safety Standards on radiation protection for the protection of the environment (recommendation 12/13) Determining Radiation Exposure (recommendation 09/13) Biological effects of emissions from high voltage direct current (HVDC) power lines (recommendation 09/13) These recommendations and statements (in German, for some English translations are available), annual reports and other publications are available on http://www.ssk.de/EN/Home/home_node.html. 4. Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management a) Nuclear Waste Management Policy on Repositories In the Federal Republic of Germany it is intended to dispose of all types of radioactive waste in deep geologic formations. In order to find a suitable site for a final repository for heat-generating waste the Repository Site Selection Act came into force on 27 July 2013 (cf. chapter 1. General). b) Repositories for Radioactive Waste The Konrad repository had been licensed on 22 May 2002 for all kinds of radioactive waste with negligible heat generation. Since the licence was confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court on 26 March 2007, the BfS is in charge of converting the former iron ore mine into a repository. For further information, see http://www.endlager-konrad.de/EN. Between 1979 and 2000, the Gorleben mine was investigated for its suitability to host a repository for high-level radioactive waste. Exploration work discontinued between 1 October 2000 and 30 September 2010 (Gorleben Moratorium). On 1 October 2010, the BfS had resumed the exploration activities. In November 2012, all exploratory work at the Gorleben mine discontinued again and was terminated on 27 July 2013. According to the Repository Site Selection Act the Gorleben mine will be included in the site selection process. The Gorleben mine needs to be kept open for as long as the Gorleben site will not be ruled out in the site-selection procedure. According to the agreement of the Federal Government and the federal state of Lower Saxony in July 2014 the mine workings, which have been kept operational, will be reduced to a minimum, for further information see http://www.bfs.de/en/endlager/gorleben/offenhaltung.html. The former Morsleben salt mine was used as repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste from 1971 until 1998. An application for the licensing procedure for closure was already filed on 9 May 1997. The respective documents were published in 2009. In 2011, a public hearing was organized to discuss objections addressed by citizens that are concerned about the project. Technical installations and residual mine openings of the ERAM (Endlager für radioaktive Abfälle Morsleben) will remain in operation until the start of the closure measures after completing the plan-approval procedure for the closure of the ERAM. In January 2013, the German Nuclear Waste Management Commission ( Entsorgungskommssion - ESK) issued a statement on the Safety Case for the Morsleben disposal facility published in 2009. The implications of this ESK statement show the difficulty involved in a long-lasting licensing procedure: It will postpone the licensing of the closure for at least 5 years. The former Asse salt mine was used from 1967 to 1978 as disposal facility for low- and intermediatelevel nuclear waste and as an underground research laboratory. In 2009, the BfS took over responsibility for the Asse II mine, holding a licence under the Atomic Energy Act and the Mining Law. In April 2013, the so-called “Lex – Asse” (§ 57 b AtG) was implemented that requires the retrieval of the radioactive waste before decommissioning the mine. The first exploratory drilling for the planned new recovery shaft (shaft Asse 5), which is required for the transport of the waste to the surface, started in June 2013. To investigate still existing uncertainties relating to the retrieval, the trial phase continued in 2014 with a third drilling in order to investigate emplacement chamber 7 at the 750-m level. Since summer 2013, the brine intrusion on the 658-m-level is labile. The development of brine intrusion cannot be predicted. Nevertheless, the mission by law requires the immediate and parallel push of the retrieval measures (interim storage for waste, new shaft, technology for waste recovery). 1 October 2014 8 Simultaneously, precautionary measures to stabilize the mine and to minimize the consequences of the possible flooding are implemented. For further information see http://www.asse.bund.de/EN. c) Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Three central interim storage facilities are in operation at Gorleben, Ahaus and Rubenow/Greifswald (ZLN). The Gorleben storage facility is the only one in the Federal Republic of Germany that has a licence for the storage of vitrified high-level radioactive waste from the reprocessing of German fuel elements abroad. In November 2009, a license was granted for the interim storage facility at Ahaus also to store radioactive waste from the operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants for at most 10 years (so-called combined use). The on-site interim storage facility at Jülich contains the spent fuel spheres from the prototype AVR high temperature reactor. Because the license for the AVR storage facility was limited to June 2013, a license to store the 152 casks in the central interim storage facility at Ahaus was applied for in 2009. Alternatively, the Jülich Research Centre has made an application for extension of storage of another three years at the site of Jülich. As especially proofs on the point for examination “earthquake protection” were not furnished, the license application procedure could not be concluded by 30 June 2013. On 27 June 2013, the supervisory authority of the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie, Industrie, Mittelstand und Handwerk - MWEIMH) ordered the further storage of the AVR fuel elements at the interim storage facility at Jülich. This order was limited until 31 December 2013. As no license was granted meanwhile, the supervisory authority of the Land made another disposition on 17 December 2013. It was limited until 31 July 2014. On 2 July 2014, the MWEIMH gave order to clear the AVR cask storage facility Jülich. The order does not provide for a termination of the licensing procedure pursuant to § 6 AtG for the AVR cask storage facility. The Jülich Research Centre has to submit a detailed concept for the clearance to the MWEIMH by 30 September 2014. Twelve on-site interim storage facilities at the sites of the nuclear power plants have been licensed by BfS between November 2002 and December 2003; all are in operation. In April 2005, an application for an interim storage facility has been filed for the Obrigheim nuclear power plant site. The licence procedure is not yet finalized. On 10 December 2013, the operator of the Obrigheim NPP has made an application for the alternative storage of the fuel elements from Obrigheim in the on-site interim storage facility at the site of Neckarwestheim. With this application the operator pursues its consideration to forgo the construction of an additional on-site interim storage facility and to release the site Obrigheim much earlier as nuclear location. d) Nuclear Fuel Fabrication and Reprocessing At Lingen a facility for the fabrication of fuel elements for light water reactors (ANF) including storage facility for UF6-container is in operation. The capacity for uranium conversion is 800 t/a, the other systems have a capacity of 650 t uranium per year. At Gronau an Uranium Enrichment Plant (URENCO Germany) started operation in 1985 with 400 tSW/a. The design capacity was stepwise expanded. The last licence to increase the capacity to up to 4,500 tSW/a was granted in 2005. The additional systems have been constructed since mid of 2008 and stepwise commissioned. At the end of 2013 the installed capacity reached full capacity of 4,500 tSW/a. At the Karlsruhe Reprocessing Plant (WAK - in decommissioning) the vitrification of 60 m³ HAWC (High Active Waste Concentrate) was completed in June 2010. After flushing operation of the vitrification facility (VEK) in total, 140 vitrified waste containers comprising 56 t of vitrified waste were produced. The waste containers were shipped to the storage facility ZLN at Rubenow/Greifswald in February 2011. For the decommissioning of the WAK the 24th licence was granted on 28 April 2014 (manual dismantling of the VEK). e) Transports The spent nuclear fuel shipments and shipments of vitrified waste are subject to the approval requirements of § 4 of the Atomic Energy Act. Licensing authority is BfS. According to the German Atomic Energy Act, shipments of spent fuel to reprocessing plants are not allowed anymore since 1 July 2005. 1 October 2014 9 Since 1996, during twelve transports 108 casks containing vitrified high active nuclear waste were shipped from the French reprocessing plant in La Hague to the Gorleben interim storage facility. The last transport comprised 11 casks and took place in November 2011. Casks with vitrified waste will be taken back to Germany in the future from the reprocessing plants in Sellafield, Great Britain and La Hague, Frankreich. 5. Radiation Protection On 6 February 2014, the Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM came into force laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation. Significantly revised aspects of the newly adopted directive include: improved radiation protection in case of naturally occurring radioactive material in soil and rock formations, measures for protection against radon at home and at work, provisions regulating the management of existing radioactive contamination, detailed requirements for emergency planning and intensified cooperation in emergencies and provisions to prevent unnecessary medical x-ray examinations. The new Directive has to be transposed into national legislation within four years. In Germany this may lead to new legal documents or revision of existing guidelines. - Discussions are ongoing with regard to the consequences of the Fukushima accident for precautionary radiation protection and emergency management measures in Germany. In addition, discussions are ongoing with regard to - - - Experiences gained with the operation of the National Register on High-activity Radiation Sources, Experiences gained with the operation of the National Radiation Protection Register (Register of doses of occupationally exposed persons), in particular, the impact of the presently revised European Basic Safety Standards on the monitoring system and the implementation of the harmonized European Radiation Passbook template of HERCA for outside-workers, Application of dose constraints for optimization in occupational protection, Experiences gained with the implementation of the Guidelines on Competence in Radiation Protection, Maintaining competence in radiation protection, Competence in radiation protection for the application of devices for digital volume tomography, The evaluation of the impact of German Mammography Screening Programme on breast cancer mortality, Quality assurance in mammography, Teleradiology – impact on licensing procedures, Reduction of patient doses (CT procedures) due to application of specific software tools enhancing image quality, Application of electronic personal dosimeters, Selective Internal Radiotherapy (SIRT) and other novel applications of radionuclides, Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), Beta dosimetry at radiosynoviortheses (RSO) work places, Organisation of medical emergency management, Justification of medical radiological procedures on an asymptomatic individual, to be performed for the early detection of disease as part of a health screening programme or an individual health assessment, Referral criteria, Quality assurance in radiotherapy, Criteria for acceptability of medical radiological equipment used in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy, Justification of new types of practices involving medical exposure such as tomosynthesis as well as proton and particle therapy, Cooperation within HERCA (Heads of European Regulatory Control Authorities), Shortage of radioisotope supply, Security of radioactive materials, 1 October 2014 10 Radiation protection in geothermal energy usage, Pu-containing pacemakers, Safety requirements for final repositories of heat-generating radioactive wastes, Re-examination of resources for incorporation monitoring for occupational exposure and nuclear incidents, Reporting on accidental and unintended exposures. In general, an important aspect of all discussions is the simplification of state supervision and how to achieve less bureaucracy. -
© Copyright 2024 ExpyDoc
