As of: October 2011

Report of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Fourth Review Meeting in May 2012

Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

On 31 August 2011 the German Cabinet adopted the fourth report by the Federal Republic of Germany on measures taken to implement the obligations under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The report, which was compiled in English, was submitted to the depositary of the Convention, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on 12 October 2011.

There are currently 60 Parties to the Convention (as at 29 June 2011). Germany has been a Party since 13 October 1998.

The aims of the Convention are:

• to achieve and maintain worldwide a high safety standard in facilities for the disposal of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and radioactive waste
• to establish and maintain for the long term effective measures to safeguard against possible hazards with radiological impacts in such disposal facilities.

The extent to which the Parties have achieved these goals is investigated every three years in the Review Meetings of the Parties. The Parties must submit written reports which are discussed and evaluated during the meetings. The fourth Review Meeting will take place in Vienna from 14 May 2012; the first, second and third Review Meetings were also held in Vienna, in November 2003, May 2006 and May 2009 respectively.

The fourth report now adopted proves that Germany fulfils its obligations under the Joint Convention by verifying that Germany's disposal facilities meet the safety standards laid down in the Convention. This has been achieved especially through updating and enforcing nuclear energy legislation in the field of disposal of spent fuel and radioactive waste, as well as through sustainable technological improvements to the relevant facilities. Further developing nuclear safety means adapting existing and future disposal facilities to reflect the state of the art in science and technology.

The German government believes that Germany also has a particular responsibility at international level to work towards lasting improvements in safety in the disposal sector. It meets this responsibility by exchanging experience at bilateral and multilateral level, and by supporting G8 Global Partnership programmes.

The German government strongly advocates that the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management should be used as an efficient instrument to improve the safety of nuclear disposal facilities worldwide and to harmonise relevant safety requirements at a high level.

The cut-off date for the report is 31 March 2011; the report takes account of all important developments regarding the disposal of radioactive waste and spent fuel in Germany up to this date. Nevertheless, the report also considers the current developments arising from the 13th Act amending the Atomic Energy Act.