No. 01/18 – Completion of the Konrad repository delayed

Based on an external expert report, the BGE expects construction to be completed in the first half of 2027

8 March 2018

The completion of the Konrad repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste in Salzgitter (Lower Saxony) will be delayed by four and a half years. At the request of the Federal Environment Ministry, the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE) as the new operator commissioned an expert report in September 2017 in order to clarify the status of the construction project in anticipation of the merger with the Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe (DBE) on 20 December 2017. Until the reorganisation, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) was the client, and the DBE was the operator in the implementation. Both were linked by a non-cancellable cooperation agreement on the construction of repositories concluded in 1984. The interpretation of this was often subject to differing opinions.

In the expert report of TÜV Rheinland, all information about the previous organisations has now been examined for the first time in terms of its relevance to deadlines. The TÜV surveyors evaluated the uncertainties in the construction of the repository and identified optimisation opportunities that arise, among other things, from the reorganisation. Accordingly, the project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.

The Konrad mine is the first repository in Germany to be authorised under the Atomic Energy Act. The duration of the preliminary review procedures under nuclear law has therefore been conservatively taken into account in the deadline estimate. The supervisory authority, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BfE), continuously reviews the planning documents for the areas of the repository where the waste will then be stored.

Furthermore, the implementation of a number of old contracts, some of which were concluded before 1990, is now disputed between contractors and clients. In some cases, these conflicts can be resolved only through a new tender. Some building contracts that are time-relevant for the overall project have not yet been concluded. This uncertainty has also been assessed in the new schedule.

On the other hand, the surveyors also see possibilities for optimisation, the effects of which have not yet been included in the estimate of the schedule. The unclear division of tasks, responsibilities, and powers between BfS and DBE has been ended by combining the expertise in the BGE. “We are convinced that we will come to grips with the uncertainties resulting from the difficult constellation in the BGE”, says Ursula Heinen-Esser, Chair of the BGE Management Board.

It is currently being examined whether the construction can be accelerated by changing how the work is organised – with a multi-shift system, for example. Better project management will enable a quicker response to any problems that may arise. “We are already learning a lot from each other and can use working time that had previously been tied up for monitoring the cooperation agreement for constructing the repository”, says Managing Director Dr Thomas Lautsch.

Since the merger, several working groups in the BGE have been working to simplify and shorten internal work processes. The BGE is setting up its own process monitoring. Project risk management is also currently being reviewed.

The coalition agreement provides for the establishment of a central storage warehouse. This can also improve the logistics of the emplacement. With a two-shift operation during emplacement, the total operating time can be shortened, and part of the delay can thus be compensated for.

The Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) is seeking a site for a repository for high-level radioactive waste and building the Konrad repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The BGE is keeping the Morsleben repository open until decommissioning and is planning the retrieval of the radioactive waste from the Asse II mine. The BGE is a federally owned company within the portfolio of the Federal Environment Ministry. Its managing directors are Ursula Heinen-Esser (Chair), Dr Ewold Seeba (Deputy Chair), Professor Hans-Albert Lennartz (Commercial Manager) and Dr Thomas Lautsch (Technical Manager).

contact

Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH
Pressestelle
Willy-Brandt-Str. 5
38226 Salzgitter

phone: 030 18333-1868
mail: presse(at)bge.de