Press Release

No. 13/17 - Merger of final repository companies completes reorganisation of final nuclear storage. BGE incorporated DBE mbH and Asse-GmbH

22 December 2017

With the merger of the Federal Government companies in the field of nuclear final storage into the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE), the instructions of legislators and the decisions of the Final Repository Commission regarding reorganisation have been implemented in a timely manner. The merger of the Federal Government companies came into legal effect on 20 December with the entry of the BGE into the trade register. The BGE is therefore the legal successor to both the Deutschen Gesellschaft zum Bau von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe mbH (DBE) [German Company for the Construction and Operation of Final Repositories for Waste Materials] and the government-owned Asse-GmbH.

Since its founding in 2009, Asse-GmbH has been planning the retrieval of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste from the former research final repository. The DBE was commission with converting the former ore workings at the Konrad mine into a final repository for low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. Furthermore, the DBE also operated the Morsleben final repository (closing) and the former Gorleben exploration mine. In this way, the decisions of the commission for the storage of highly radioactive waste materials (known as the Final Repository Commission) and the concept of legislators for the new company structure for the final storage of radioactive waste have been implemented in a timely way.

Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks says, “The merger of the final repository companies is a common challenge for all stakeholders. It is however an opportunity to shape cooperatively the relaunch of the final repository search and the organisation of radiation protection in a successful, long-lasting and sustainable way. I am particularly delighted that we have succeeded in shaping the transition in a socially tolerable way for all employees.”

BGE Managing Director Ursula Heinen-Esser says: “The merger is a first milestone on the path towards the new BGE, in which we unite all the technical and planning skills for the final repositories under one roof.” The start of 2018 also formally marks the start of the exclusive responsibility of the BGE for the Federal Government’s final repository projects. Thus opens a new chapter in the field of nuclear final storage. In place of the complicated structure that has grown up in recent decades for the planning, construction and operation of the final repository projects, there are now clear relationships in terms of structure and responsibility.

About the BGE: back in April 2017, the BGE took over all responsibility from the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) as the responsible operator of the Asse II shaft mine, the Konrad mine, the Morsleben final repository, the maintenance of Gorleben and the tasks of the BfS as project developer under the site selection legislation. With the adoption of the assisting administration companies DBE and Asse-GmbH, the federal company will also continue their business operations. The sole BGE shareholder is the Federal Government, which not only leads participation within the Federal Environment Ministry but also manages the company. In future, more the 1600 workers will be employed by the BGE, which has its headquarters in Peine, Germany. Further BGE sites are located in Salzgitter, Remlingen and Morsleben. 

Contact

Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH
Pressestelle
Willy-Brandt-Str. 5
38226 Salzgitter

Phone: +49 30 18333-1868
Email: presse(at)bge.de


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