Retention of Skills Resulted In Internationally Sought-After Expertise

BGE TECHNOLOGY GmbH (BGE TEC) is celebrating its 25th birthday. This engineering subsidiary of the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) was founded in 2000 under the name DBE TECHNOLOGY GmbH. This was a subsidiary company of the BGE predecessor organisation Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern (DBE). At that time, the decision was made primarily for pragmatic reasons: the moratorium in Gorleben meant that work on the then exploratory mine came to a standstill, and the DBE was unable to continue its work and research as originally planned. This meant that the highly qualified experts in the fields of geophysics, geology, mining engineering and nuclear engineering were relieved of their previous duties, a situation that threatened to result in a loss of expertise. The solution was to establish BGE TEC in order to take on work outside of the national waste disposal programme and secure this expertise for the long term.

41 engineers and scientist from eight countries

Since then, BGE TEC has continued to develop and is now an internationally renowned consulting and engineering company specialising in the safe disposal of radioactive waste. Its core expertise lies in the disposal and management of radioactive waste – particularly in the areas of research and development, technical consulting and the engineering implementation of repository projects. In two decades, BGE TEC has implemented over 80 research and development projects and processed more than 110 national and international orders on almost every continent in the world. BGE TEC is closely involved in the BGE’s repository projects, particularly with regard to issues relating to rock mechanics and backfilling and sealing materials. Today, there are 41 engineers and scientists from eight countries working for BGE TEC in Peine.

Worldwide success

Iris Graffunder, Chair of the BGE Management Board, congratulated BGE TEC on its anniversary: “We’re proud that our subsidiary BGE TEC has achieved worldwide success. BGE TEC contributes its international experience and latest findings to the BGE. It’s important that we learn from each other, because the issues and scientific developments relating to final disposal are of cross-border importance.” Thilo von Berlepsch, Managing Director of BGE TECHNOLOGY GmbH, said: “We’re happy to support the BGE in all repository projects and the site selection process. We’re able to do so precisely because we operate on an international basis. We’ve found partners in Belgium and the Czech Republic, for example, with whom we’ve now been working for decades. This gives BGE TEC a good overview of the further development of the state of the art in science and technology in final disposal – and this experience then flows back into the BGE.”