New chairman of BGE Supervisory Board

On 12 March 2024, Dr Jan-Niclas Gesenhues took over as Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE). The Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) took over from Christian Kühn, who relinquished his position as Chair and his seat on the Supervisory Board after being appointed President of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste (BASE). Kühn took up his new position in mid February.

The Supervisory Board of the BGE is normally made up of 16 members, with equal representation of shareholder and employee representatives. One seat on the Supervisory Board is currently vacant. The body supervises and advises the BGE Management Board on matters of company management.

Dr Jan-Niclas Gesenhues says: “The final disposal of radioactive waste in Germany is a task that comes with great responsibility. The BGE is active at all stages of the process: searching for a site that offers the best possible safety for high-level radioactive waste, building the Konrad repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, decommissioning the Morsleben repository, and dealing with the complex renovation of the Asse II mine. I’m delighted at the opportunity to support this important work more intensively from now on.” The Chair of the BGE Management Board, Iris Graffunder, says: “Jan-Niclas Gesenhues brings wide-ranging experience from previous roles to his new position. This outsider’s perspective will undoubtedly help him to successfully direct the work of the Supervisory Board.”

The BGE is a federally owned company within the portfolio of the Federal Environment Ministry. On 25 April 2017, the BGE assumed responsibility from the Federal Office for Radiation Protection as the operator of the Asse II mine and the Konrad and Morsleben repositories. In addition to the decommissioning of the Gorleben mine, its other tasks include searching for a repository site for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste produced in Germany on the basis of the Repository Site Selection Act, which entered into force in May 2017. The Management Board is made up of Iris Graffunder (Chair of the Management Board), Marlis Koop and Dr Thomas Lautsch.