Germany

Nuclear power situation

• Nuclear power plants: Status and operations
• Current organisational chart
• Supply of nuclear power plants
• Operation of nuclear power plants
• Fuel cycle and waste management
• Research and development activities
• International co-operation and initiatives
• Historical development and current nuclear power organisational structure

National laws and regulations

• Safety authority and the licensing process
• Main national laws and the regulations governing nuclear power

Current issues and developments

• Energy policy
• Privatisation and deregulation
• Role of the government in nuclear research and development
• Nuclear energy and climate change
• Related links
• Related NEA publications

Nuclear power situation

Table 1: Nuclear power situation

	Number of nuclear units connected to the grid	Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh)	Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
Germany	17	133.2	23.2
OECD Europe	145	879.6	25.8
OECD TOTAL	346 (out of 437 worldwide)	2278.1	23.1

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2008. The complete table for all OECD member countries is also available.

 

Nuclear power plants: Status and operations

In 2002, a total gross capacity of 22.4 GWe was installed in the 19 operating German nuclear power plants, 0.7% more than in 1999. This was realised either by increasing the thermal reactor power (KKP 2, KKU) or by optimising the steam turbine (KKE, KKI 1, KKI 2) respectively.

Increasing of thermal reactor power is also foreseen for several other plants. The generated nuclear electricity (gross) amounted to 165 TWh in 2002, 0.4% less than in the previous year, about one third of the electricity supplied by public utilities. This nuclear share has been roughly constant since 1985, but will decrease within the next two decades due to the political decision to phase-out nuclear energy use. Table 3 shows the status of nuclear power plants by the end of 2002, Figure 4 the siting. In Table 5 the projected shutdown dates for the 19 plants are given.

Current organisational chart

The interaction of the different authorities and organisations involved in the nuclear licensing procedure is shown in Figure 1. The institutions mentioned are explained in more detail in the National laws and regulations section. Table 2 shows the licensing and supervisory authorities for the individual power plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2. The Länder licensing and supervisory authorities for nuclear power plants

Land	Nuclear Installation	Licensing Authority	Supervisory Authority
Baden-Württemberg	Obrigheim Neckarwestheim 1 Neckarwestheim 2 Philippsburg 1 Philippsburg 2	Wirtschaftsministerium after consultation with Ministerium für Umwelt und Verkehr und Innenministerium	Ministerium für Umwelt und Verkehr
Bayern	Isar 1 Isar 2 Grafenrheinfeld Gundremmingen B Gundremmingen C	Staatsministerium für Landesentwicklung und Umweltfragen, in agreement with Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr und Technologie	Staatsministerium für Landesentwicklung und Umweltfragen
Hessen	Biblis A Biblis B	Ministerium für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Forsten
Niedersachsen	Stade Unterweser Grohnde Emsland	Umweltministerium
Rheinland-Pfalz	Mülheim-Kärlich	Ministerium für Umwelt und Forsten
Schleswig-Holstein	Brunsbüttel Krümmel Brokdorf	Ministerium für Finanzen und Energie

Supply of nuclear power plants

No exclusively German supplier of nuclear power plants remains at the start of the 21st century. In 2001, the remaining domestic manufacturer Siemens/KWU merged its nuclear business with Framatome SA to form Framatome-ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power). The former nuclear branch of Siemens - KWU in Erlangen - now acts as an operational center, called AREVA NP GmbH. Its main activities include projects and engineering, nuclear services, nuclear fuel and mechanical equipment. The second German supplier of nuclear power plants, BBR, renamed Westinghouse Electric Germany GmbH in November 2003, now concentrates on nuclear services

Table 3. Status of nuclear power plants

 

Operation of nuclear power plants

The companies operating nuclear power plants are owned by only a few major utilities. These have been, over the last few years, in a process of concentration and reordering. Operating personnel are at sufficient supply at the moment, regularly undertaking training at plant specific full scope simulators at Kraftwerksschule in Essen. However, personnel may become a problematic issue due to the policy of phasing-out the use of nuclear power and a diminishing interest in nuclear education in Germany. For maintenance, the operator receives support from manufacturers and service suppliers specialised in this field (for operational data see the Nuclear power plants: Status and Operation section).

Fuel cycle and waste management

All facilities necessary to close the nuclear fuel cycle have been produced in Germany. Today, only a few of them are in operation, several are shutdown and being decommissioned or did not receive operation licenses (see the Historical development and current nuclear power organisational structure section). According to the new energy policy and the respective amendment of the Atomic Energy Act, the waste management of nuclear power plants comprises of:

• transport of spent fuel for reprocessing only until 30 June 2005 at the latest and utilisation of recovered nuclear fuel;
• from 1 July 2005, the using of local interim storage facilities for spent fuel until a final repository has been commissioned;
• interim storage of spent fuel at central (external) interim storage facilities and, as soon as possible, at local interim storage facilities; and
• conditioning and interim storage of radioactive waste from the operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants until a final repository will be commissioned.

At Gronau, the URENCO enrichment plant has expanded from an original capacity of 400 SWU/year to 1 400 SWU/year over the last several years and it is intended to increase the capacity further to 4 500 SWU/year.

At Lingen, the fuel fabrication facility ANF is in operation and produces uranium fuel elements for LWRs. In 2002, the increase of the throughput capacity up to 500 tonnes of Uranium per year was licensed.

Three central interim storage facilities for spent fuel are in operation: The transport flask store Ahaus (TBLA) for irradiated fuel; the transport flask store Gorleben (TBLG) for both irradiated fuel and vitrified reprocessing products; and the interim storage facility Zwischenlager Nord (ZLN) exclusively for spent fuel from the decommissioning of the nuclear power plants in Greifswald and Rheinsberg.

According to the new German energy policy, additional local interim storage facilities for spent fuel are to be built on the nuclear power plant sites. License applications have been introduced for 13 sites; meanwhile one storage facility is in operation.

At the beginning of 2002, the licensed storage pond capacity, erected within the nuclear power plants, amounted to 6 327 t HM, of which 751 t were not occupied (additional empty space for one core load each was not counted).

The waste conditioning facility PKA at the Gorleben site is now completed, but only a limited operational license to repair damaged containers was granted by the Länder authority in 2000.

Concerning the final repository, the Federal Government plans that a future facility for all types of radioactive waste will be available around 2030. A working group on the site selection for a possible repository, set up by BMU, has produced a report on a comprehensive and suitable site selection procedure.

For additional information on the German radioactive waste management programme please see the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Radioactive Waste Management Programmes in OECD/NEA Member Countries.

Research and development activities

Basic nuclear research is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), applied nuclear research - especially nuclear reactor safety and repository research - by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour (BMWA) and regulatory nuclear investigations by Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The national development activities on disposal are financed by the utilities. Research in nuclear matters at universities and research centers is decreasing. Nothing is currently being done on future nuclear reactors because of the political decision to phase out nuclear commercial electricity production (see the Historical development and current nuclear power organisational structure section).

International co-operation and initiatives

As a member state of the European Union (EU), the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Germany supports various international programmes in nuclear safety and nuclear waste management. In direct international co-operation Germany also supports projects and organisations, for example the licensing and supervisory authorities, technical support organisations and also research institutes.

As a EU member Germany takes part in many European nuclear research activities, for example:

• PHEBUS-FP programme covering severe accidents in PWRs;
• PHARE and TACIS programmes, general projects to support Central Europe and the CIS countries in nuclear safety.

As a NEA member, Germany participates, among other things, in:

• the ICDE project on collection and analysis of data on common cause failure event;
• the HALDEN project on fuel and material issues;
• the MASCA project on in-vessel phenomena during a servere accident as a follow up of the RASPLAV project;
• the CABRI project on the behaviour of high burn-up and MOX fuel elements under RIA conditions;
• the MCCI project on melt coolability and concrete interaction;
• the PSB-VVER project on VVER-1000 code validation; and in
• the SETH project on thermal-hydraulic experiments in support of accident management.

AREVA NP directly participates in several international projects, for example:

• HALDEN, the NEA project on fuel and material issues;
• PKL3, partly financed by the OECD, on boron dilution scenarios at the PKL large scale test facility in Erlangen;
• PANDA, an investigation at PSI of the function and reliability of passive condensers under servere accident conditions;
• PHARE/TACIS, the EU project to support Central Europe and the CIS countries in nuclear safety;
• INPRO, an IAEA project on innovative nuclear reactors and fuel cycles; and
• CAMP, an USNRC organised improvement of a code analysis and maintenance programme.

Historical development and current nuclear power organisational structure

Historical development concerning nuclear power plants

After World War II, allied regulations prohibited any activity in nuclear research and industrial development in the two parts of Germany. After West Germany had officially renounced the production, possession or use of nuclear weapons, it was admitted, in 1955, to the western community of nations as a sovereign state. Research and development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes could then start.

By this time, some countries had already been working for ten years on nuclear technology. To close the gap, an agreement was reached between the scientific, economic and political sectors to organise extensive international co-operation. The German Atomic Programme was formulated to co-ordinate the work, including the construction of a series of prototype reactors, formulating the concepts for a closed nuclear fuel cycle, and for the disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological formations.

In 1955, the Federal Government established an atomic ministry (Bundesministerium für Atomfragen). Germany became a founding member of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the present OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Agreements for co-operation with France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America were reached. With the assistance of American manufacturers, Germany started developing commercial nuclear power plants (Siemens/Westinghouse for PWR, AEG/General Electric for BWR). The German electric utilities supported the development.

In the following years several nuclear research centers were created in West Germany:
1956:

• Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KfK);
• Gesellschaft für Kernenergieverwertung in Schiffbau und Schifffahrt (GKSS) in Geesthacht;
• Kernforschungsanlage Jülich (KFA).

1959:

• Hahn-Meitner-Institut für Kernforschung (HMI) in Berlin;
• Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg.

1969:

• Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt.

Most of these research centres and university institutes were equipped with research reactors. At present most research reactors are shut down and being decommissioned. Since the late 1980s some of the research centres changed their areas of activity - and some of them also their names - to environmental issues. Due to financial conditions, nuclear research became more and more limited to basic nuclear physics.

In 1958, a 16 MWe experimental nuclear power plant (Versuchsatomkraftwerk Kahl, VAK) was ordered from GE/AEG and reached criticality in 1960. The domestic German nuclear development began in 1961 with the order of the 15 MWe pebble-bed high-temperature reactor (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor in Jülich, AVR) from BBK/BBC. Power reactors with 250-350 MWe and 600-700 MWe were ordered between 1965 and 1970. After about 15 years, the technological gap between Germany and other nations had closed. The German nuclear industry received the first orders from abroad, from the Netherlands (Borssele) and from Argentina (Atucha). In 1972, the construction of the world's then largest reactor, Biblis A with 1200 MWe, started in Germany. Between 1970 and 1975, on average, three units were ordered annually.

In 1969, Siemens and AEG founded Kraftwerk Union (KWU) by merging their respective nuclear activities. The domestic development of KWU nuclear power plants with PWRs started. On the basis of several years of operational experience, finally a standardised 1300 MWe PWR ("Konvoi") was introduced, mainly to speed up the licensing process. However, after some "pre-Konvoi" units, only three Konvoi-units were actually constructed (Isar-2, Neckarwestheim-2, and Emsland). The Konvoi-units were ordered in 1982 and commissioned in 1988/89, the last nuclear power plant projects in Germany. Since then, nuclear energy has continuously had a share of approximately one third of the electricity production in Germany.

In East Germany, nuclear power started developing with the assistance of the Soviet Union in 1955. Research in nuclear physics began with the founding of the Central Institute for Nuclear Physics in 1956 at Rossendorf. There, in 1957, a research reactor supplied by the Soviet Union started operation. The first East German 70 MWe nuclear power plant Rheinsberg, equipped with a Russian type PWR, was connected to the grid in 1966. Between 1974 and 1979, the Greifswald nuclear power plant units 1-4 were connected to the grid, all equipped with Russian WWER-440/W-230 reactors. In 1989, unit 5, a WWER-440/W-213 reactor, was in the process of commissioning. Following German reunification, comprehensive safety assessments of the Soviet type nuclear power plants in East Germany were carried out. These analyses showed safety deficiencies in comparison with the current West German nuclear safety requirements. Due to technical and economic reasons - in particular uncertainties in the licensing process and also decreasing electricity consumption - it was decided not to upgrade these plants. They were prepared for decommissioning. Also, work on the nuclear plants under construction (units 6, 7 and 8 at Greifswald with WWER-440/W-213 reactors and two WWER-1000 reactors near Stendal) was abandoned.

Two prototypes of advanced reactor design were developed in Germany: the pebble-bed high-temperature reactor (Thorium-Hochtemperaturreaktor, THTR 300) at HRB/BBC and a fast breeder reactor (Schneller Natriumgekühlter Reaktor, SNR 300) at Interatom/Siemens. Due to economical and political reasons, the former, after a successful commissioning and operation for some years, was shut down, and the latter was completed but never commissioned.

All nuclear power plants currently in operation in Germany were built by KWU or Siemens/AEG. The second largest German supplier for nuclear power plants (originally called BBR, was a joint venture between Brown, Boveri & Cie. and Babcock & Wilcox from the USA, and was sold to BNFL/UK in December 1999 and has been subsequently renamed Westinghouse Electric Germany), supplied only one PWR plant, Mülheim-Kärlich, which has been shut down by court order since 1988 for procedural reasons. After signing the agreement between government and utilities in June 2001 (see Current issues and developments), an application for decommissioning was made.

For several years, German utilities together with Siemens/KWU and in close co-operation with their French counterparts (EDF and ARVEA) have been developing an advanced PWR, namely the European Pressurized Water Reactor, EPR. The reactor design is "evolutionary" and shows enhanced safety features, including provisions to control core meltdown accidents. German utilities also supported the Siemens/KWU development of an advanced BWR (SWR 1000) with additional passive safety features. AREVA NP (Advanced Nuclear Power) GmbH, continues both the EPR and SWR 1000 projects.

Since the early 1970s, the quite successful German nuclear power programme faced a steadily increasing opposition against the national use of nuclear energy. A number of violent demonstrations and occupation of potential sites took place, mainly at Brokdorf, Wyhl and Wackersdorf and "concerned citizens" raised objections in administrative courts. Consequently, construction and licensing of nuclear power plants were considerably delayed due to ongoing litigation. Today, the construction of new NPPs for electricity production is forbidden by law (see Current issues and developments).

Historical development concerning the nuclear fuel cycle

In Germany all the facilities necessary for a closed nuclear fuel cycle were erected. This included Ellweiler, in former West Germany, a very small uranium mine with yellow cake production; and in former East Germany the large uranium production facility Wismut, which initially also supplied uranium to the Soviet Union. Ellweiler has been closed and Wismut - with an accumulated uranium production in the top 3 in the world after the USA and Canada - is being decommissioned.

The project for a reprocessing plant at Wackersdorf was abandoned in 1988, partly due to public opposition and partly also due to economic reasons. Therefore, the German utilities have contracts for reprocessing spent fuel with COGEMA/France and BNFL/UK. The contracts under private law were accompanied by governmental agreements. Radioactive waste resulting from reprocessing spent fuel in foreign facilities is brought back to Germany, the plutonium from reprocessing is used for MOX fuel fabrication. The new MOX fuel fabrication plant at Hanau was completed, however the operation license was not granted due to political complications and the plant is now being dismantled. The reprocessing pilot plant WAK is being decommissioned, and a facility to vitrify the resulting high active waste concentrate meanwhile is under construction and close to commissioning.

Since the early 1960s West Germany started to set up a programme for radioactive waste management and disposal. The radioactive waste disposal policy was based on the decision that all types of radioactive waste are to be disposed of in deep geological formations. Realistically, such a decision is only acceptable if a barrier for radionuclide releases exists which remains effective over the long periods of time, which radionuclides need to decay significantly. Thus, vitrified fission product solution from reprocessing and spent fuel elements, as well as spent sealed radiation sources and miscellaneous waste from small waste generators are affected by this decision. It also applies to alpha bearing waste originating in particular from reprocessing facilities, nuclear research facilities or the nuclear fuel cycle industry. Near-surface disposal or shallow land burial was excluded in Germany from the very beginning, because of the high population density and climatic conditions; furthermore appropriate deep geological formations exist.

Development work in this field started with the Asse research mine in a salt dom in Niedersachsen, where low- and medium-level radioactive waste were disposed of on an experimental basis until the end of 1978. In 1979, an agreement on the principles for nulcear power plant waste management was reached between the Federal Government and the Länder. The Land Niedersachsen agreed to assess the salt dome of Gorleben for its suitability to host a repository for all types of radioactive waste, in particular high-level waste originating from reprocessing and spent fuel elements. According to the new energy policy (see the Current issues and developments section), the underground investigation of the Gorleben salt dome was interrupted in October 2000, for a minimum of three, and at most ten years (Gorleben moratorium). The former iron ore mine Schacht Konrad - also in Niedersachsen - has been licensed for low-and intermediate-level waste (waste with negligible heat generation), but construction of the final repository facility have so far not begun due to legal restrictions.

In the late 1960s, East German studies on the disposal of radioactive waste resulted in the decision to use the abandoned salt mine Morsleben (ERAM) as repository for low-and intermediate-level waste with low concentrations of alpha emitters. In 1981, after extensive investigations, the first license for final disposal was granted. With German reunification in 1990, the operation license was limited until 30 June 2000, later extended to 2005. Due to a court order in 1998 concerning the so-called eastern emplacement field, waste disposal was stopped completely. Now, the licensing procedure for decommissioning is in progress.

National laws and regulations

For additional information on national laws and regulations concerning nuclear power please see the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Analytical Study of Nuclear Legislation in OECD countries.

Safety authority and the licensing process

The Atomic Energy Act, adopted on 23 December 1959, as amended by the 2002 Act. The consolidated text of the 2002 Act is reproduced in the Supplement to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Nulcear Law Bulletin 70. The Atomic Energy Act is the core of national regulations in Germany. Its primary purpose is to protect life, health and property against the hazards of nuclear energy and the detrimental effects of ionising radiation, and furthermore, to provide for compensation for any damage and injuries incurred. According to the amendment of 2002, another purpose is to phase out the use of nuclear energy for commercial electricity production.

The 1986 Act on Preventive Protection of the Public against Radiation. The text of the Act is reproduced in the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Nulcear Law Bulletin 39, p. 43. The Forth Implementing Ordinance was adopted on 30 July 1998.

According to the Atomic Energy Act, a license is required for the construction, operation or any other holding of a stationary installation for the production, treatment, processing or fission of nuclear fuel or reprocessing irradiated fuel (but no further license for commercial nuclear power plants will be granted). A license is also required for essentially modifying such an installation or its operation and for decommissioning. The applicant can only be granted a license if they meet the individual requirements spelled out by § 7 Atomic Energy Act, that includes as license prerequisites:

• trustworthiness and qualification of the responsible personnel;
• necessary knowledge of the otherwise engaged personnel regarding safe operation of the installation;
• necessary precautions against damage in the light of the state of the art in science and technology;
• necessary financial security with respect to legal liability for paying damage compensation;
• protection against disruptive actions or other interference by third parties; and
• consideration of public interests with respect to environmental impact.

The Radiation Protection Ordinance, adopted on 13 October 1976 (repealed and replaced by the 2001 Radiation Protection Ordinance) regulates in a legally binding way the reporting by name of the responsible persons for the radiation protection of the licensee, the dose limits of radiation exposure during operating conditions for the personnel engaged at the plant and for the general public. Furthermore, it contains planning values for doses from potential exposure in case of design based accidents of nuclear power plants.

Concerning the safety of nuclear power plants, the Federal Environmental Ministry (BMU) has the federal competence, whereas the execution of federal laws lies within the responsibility of the federal states, the Länder. So the licensing of nuclear installations is carried out by the Länder, where different ministries are responsible for licensing of construction, operation, essential modification and decommissioning of nuclear power plants. For technical matters in the licensing procedure and the supervision of nuclear facilities, the regulatory authorities of the Länder are supported by independent technical support organizations, in general the nuclear departments of the Technical Inspection Agencies (TÜV).

The actual details and procedure of licensing are specified in the Ordinance comcerning the procedure for licensing nuclear installations, adopted on 18 February 1977, which repealed and replaced the 1960 Nuclear Installation Ordinance and was last amended in 2001. It deals specifically with the application procedure, with the submission of supporting documents and with the participation of the general public. It deals, furthermore, with the assessment of any environmental impact and with the consideration of other licensing requirements (e.g. regarding the possible release or discharge of non-radioactive pollutants into air or water).

To preserve the legal uniformity for the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the BMU supervises the licensing and supervisory activities of the Länder authorities (so-called "federal executive administration"). Supervision by BMU includes the right to issue binding directives.

Main national laws and regulations on nuclear power and waste management

• Atomic Energy Act (Atomgesetz), as amended in 2002.
• Precautionary Radiation Protection Act (Strahlenschutzvorsorgegesetz) and its Forth Implementing Ordinance.
• Radiation Protection Ordinance (Strahlenschutzverordnung)
• Licensing Procedure Ordinance (Atomrechtliche Verfahrensverordnung)
• Financial Security Ordinance (Atomrechtliche Deckungsvorsorge-Verordnung) , repealed and replaced by the 1977 Ordinance, adopted on 18 February and last amended in 2002.
• 1982 Ordinance on Advance Financial Contributions towards construction of Federal Installations for Safe Containment and Disposal of Radioactive Waste, the 1986 Extension of the Ordinance and its last amendment in 2004.
• 1977 Safety Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants.
• 1995 General Mining Ordinance: applying to underground radioactive waste repositories.

Current issues and developments

Energy policy

In 1986, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, political consensus on the use of nuclear energy was lost in Germany. Up to that time, all three parties in parliament had more or less supported the increasing use of nuclear power. From this point, society split into two parts, one in favour and one against using nuclear power. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), at that time in opposition to the Federal Government coalition of Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP), adopted a resolution to phase-out nuclear power within ten years. It took another twelve years until when in September 1998, SPD and the green party Bündnis90/Die Grünen (Greens) won the federal election and together took over the Federal Government.

The political situation regarding the relationship between the Federation and the Länder is complicated by changing political majorities. Federation and Länder, both have their responsibilities in nuclear licensing and nuclear safety matters (see the Safety authority and licensing process section). The Länder are represented in the second parliament chamber (Bundesrat). From 1982 CDU/FDP led the Federal Government, but the 1998 elections for the Länder resulted in a SPD majority in the Bundesrat. The September 2005 federal election, was inconclusive and resulted in the formation of a 'grand coalition', or power-sharing arrangement negotiated between the SPD and a coalition of the CDU/Christian-Social Union (CSU) parties.

The energy policy of the current 'grand coalition' retains the policy of phase out of the use of nuclear power for commercial electricity production still in place. Finally an agreement between the Federal Government and the utilities on the matter was signed in June 2001. In April 2002, the respective amendment to the Atomic Energy Act came into force. The main purpose of the amendment is to terminate in an orderly manner the use of nuclear energy for commercial electricity production. At the same time, safe operation of the nuclear power plants for their remaining operative life-times is to be achieved. Beside the limiting of nuclear power plant lifetimes to a 32 year equivalent on the average (Table 3), the construction of new nuclear power plants is forbidden. Therefore, the share of nuclear power in the national energy mix will decrease continuously over the next two decades. Furthermore, consensus is sought on the issue of radioactive waste disposal. The utilities have agreed to build interim storage facilities at the nuclear power plant sites, in order to minimize transports of spent fuel, at least for the near future. Starting from July 2005, the management of spent fuel from nuclear power plants has been restricted to direct disposal; reprocessing will no longer be permitted.

Following the new energy policy, the German programme for the disposal of radioactive waste is presently under review. The political objective is to establish one single repository in Germany for all types of radioactive waste by 2030. Sites in various host rocks will be investigated for suitability. Thus, the BMU has set up an expert group to develop new repository site selection criteria and respective procedures on both a scientific basis and through thorough discussions with public participation. In 2002 a final report was issued on a comprehensive and suitable site selection procedure.

The new German energy policy will not affect Germany's responsibility regarding its international obligations and does not reduce the efforts towards nuclear safety.

Table 4. Projected Shutdown of Nuclear Power Plants

BWR

PWR

Brunsbüttel            2/2009 Isar 1                    3/2011 Philippsburg 1         3/2011 Krümmel                3/2016 Gundremmingen B   7/2016 Gundremmingen C  1/2017

Obrigheim             12/2004 Stade                         2003 Biblis A                   2/2007 Biblis B                   1/2009 Neckarwestheim 1 12/2008 Unterweser             9/2011 Grafenrheinfeld        6/2014 Grohnde                 2/2017 Philippsburg 2          4/2017 Brokdorf               12/2018 Isar 2                      4/2020 Emsland                  6/2020 Neckarwestheim 2  4/2021

Source: Country Information

The Federal Government intends to establish a new consensus in politics and society on energy policy for the long term. It is of considerable importance to foster a forward-looking and sustainable energy supply policy through improved energy efficiency and enhanced energy savings. Renewable energy is increasingly supported. Suppliers, according to the new energy law, have to buy the renewable electricity when it is produced and at a fixed higher price. Furthermore, the general framework for raising energy efficiency has been improved, in particular for combined heat and power production. Nevertheless, within the changing scope of global markets and European energy trade, the liberalisation of markets for electricity and natural gas and the commitments to reduce of greenhouse gases emissions have to be taken into account.

Privatisation and deregulation

In April 1998, the act regarding the reorganisation of the electricity supply industry came into force in Germany. Through this act the European domestic market directive one electricity was implemented into German law. The German electricity market was liberalised completely in one step, not using the gradual opening conditions also in line with the directive. Until this liberalisation, the German electricity market had been characterised by closed supply areas. Demarcation areas and supply contracts provided a monopoly position of the respective utility. With the new regulation of April 1998, competition also started in the electricity market, and has dynamically developed ever since.

After only a few months of competition, the sector had already undergone a transformation of its structures (structure which had developed throughout decades). The situation was characterised by the reorganisation of the companies according to "generation", "transportation" and "distribution", by co-operation agreements, transfers of shares in companies, mergers of companies and the appearance of additional market participants in the new business sector "electricity trade". Among the new market participants there are several completely foreign owned companies from Europe and the USA.

In the beginning only special-tariff customers (mainly industry) took advantage of price reductions. Since the middle of 1999, private households also have taken advantage of the new market conditions. The total price reduction for industrial and commercial customers reached up to 40% , comparing prices of 1995 with those of 2000, and for private customers up to 20%. Since 2000, the special measures resulting from governmental decisions on environmental policy (taxes like "Ökosteuer" and subsidies to increase the share of renewables) have made prices rise again. In 1998 the governmental share in all electricity cost amounted to €2 300 million, whereas in 2002 it rose to €9 440 million. With the liberalisation of the market the closed supply areas where obsolete, customers can now choose their power supplier. This being the case, only just over 2% of the 43 million private and commercial customers have changed their supplier. However, at the same time 12 million new contracts have been signed, mostly with customers previous suppliers and under more favorable cost conditions. Under these tightening financial circumstances, the backfitting of plant safety and maintenance and the review of the nuclear power plants have to be carried out.

Role of the government in nuclear research and development

For activities supported by the Federal government see the Research and development section. Besides that, the Association of Major Power Utilities (VGB), of which all German and several foreign licensees of nuclear power plants are members, annually spends between approximately €2-3 million for the evaluation and feed back of operating experience. In addition, VGB has financed about 350 projects over the past ten years, three-quarters of which - for a total amount of about €70 million - were directly aimed at improving safety.

Nuclear energy and climate change

The position of the German government with respect to CO2 emissions creates a new challenge for the electricity supply industry. In the course of the climate debate, Germany committed itself in 1995 to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% compared to 1990 levels by the year 2005. Part of the challenge could be achieved by closing down aged and inefficient industries and power productions in the former GDR, with the erection of new facilities. But in the meantime, it is not sufficient to replace old devices with current technology. A strong reduction in the burning of hydrocarbon fuels will be necessary. The options for the electricity supply industry are to increase energy efficiency, both in electricity generation and end-use consumption, and to switch to generating technologies which do not burn fossil fuel. For the public it means a reduction energy consumption in general. In 2000 the CO2 emission volume was 858 Mt CO2, which is 15% less than the 1 014 Mt CO2 in 1990. But for the electricity supply industry alone, which creates around one third of the CO2 emission in Germany, numbers have increased again by 8% from 1999 - the lowest leve of emissions - compare to 2002.

Furthermore, in the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention on Climate Change in 1997, the European Union ensured that their overall emission of greenhouse gases will be at least 8% below the 1990 levels, by the year 2012. According to a burden sharing agreement of the European Union in 1998, Germany has to reduce its overall greenhouse gases by 21% compared with 1990 levels.

Appendix 1 - International, Multilateral and Bilateral Agreements

Appendix 2 - Directory of the main organisations, instituions and companies involved in nuclear power-related activites

References

Related links

Nuclear facts and figures for OECD countries
Number of nuclear units connected to the grid; Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh); Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply.

IEA energy statistics: Germany
Data available in the following areas: Coal, oil and gas use; Electricity production, supply and consumption; Heat production, supply and consumption; Graphs of sectorial final consumption by source in 1973 and 2001.

The Decommissioning and Dismantling of Nuclear Facilities in OECD/NEA Member Countries: Germany
This compilation of national fact sheets is intended to serve as an authoritative source of reference information on individual NEA member countries. In this context, the term "nuclear facility" includes all facilities associated with the production of nuclear power, from mining of uranium, through fabrication of nuclear fuel, nuclear power plant operation, fuel reprocessing and waste management, including related R&D facilities, and research and demonstration reactors.

Nuclear Legislation in OECD Countries: Germany
Regulatory and Institutional Framework for Nuclear Activities
Each country profile in this valuable reference work provides a detailed review of a full range of nuclear law topics. These include: the general regulatory regime, including mining; radioactive substances and equipment; nuclear installations; trade in nuclear materials; radiation protection; radioactive waste management; non-proliferation and physical protection; transport; and nuclear third party liability.

Energy for a Changing World
A website of the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy and Transport.

Related NEA publications

Nuclear Energy Data
Nuclear Energy Data is the NEA’s annual compilation of essential statistics on electricity generation and nuclear power in OECD countries. The reader will have quick and easy reference to the status of and projected trends in total electricity generating capacity, nuclear generating capacity, and actual electricity production, as well as to supply and demand for nuclear fuel cycle services.

 

This is an edited extract from the IAEA Country Nuclear Power Profiles. The complete entry is available from the IAEA.

Last updated: 20 June 2007