Main topic: Completion of the Konrad repository

Project Konrad is a highly complex and extensive construction project. Nuclear law imposes stringent safety requirements and serves as the benchmark for activities during construction of the Konrad repository.

In 1984, the Federal Republic of Germany signed a non-terminable cooperation agreement with the Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe (DBE) and commissioned the company to plan and construct the German repositories. As the representative of the federal government, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) (the operator) was bound to the DBE (the operating company) by this cooperation agreement. In terms of the specifics of project management, this has often led to different interpretations of competences and responsibilities.

Restructuring measures were implemented by means of the Act on the Reorganisation of the Organisational Structure in the Area of Final Disposal. As of 20 December 2017, the tasks previously performed by the BfS and the DBE are now in the hands of a single body: the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE). In anticipation of the legal merger of the participating companies and organisations, the Federal Environment Ministry asked the BGE to assess the status of the Konrad mine’s construction and to arrange for a review of the schedule. The results are now available.