Fund for financing final disposal

The polluters of radioactive waste, i.e. the operators of the nuclear power plants, have provided around 24 billion euros for the safekeeping of the legacies of the nuclear age. The amount was transferred to a public fund in July 2017. All upcoming costs for interim and final storage must now be financed from the fund.

The funding details are regulated by the Site Selection Act (StandAG). Both the supervisory authority (BASE) and the project implementer (Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH) will charge the fund for costs incurred in the site selection procedure.

What is paid out of the fund?

Costs charged to the Fund include expenses for:

• the participation procedure (e.g. information platform, expert conference on sub-areas),
• the identification of sub-areas and suitable siting regions,
• surface and underground exploration,
• research and development in connection with site selection.

Management of the Fund

For the administration and profitable investment of the money, the federal government has established the "Nuclear Waste Management Financing Fund" foundation. The foundation took up its work in June 2017, after the EU Commission had given the green light for the law on the reorganisation of responsibility in nuclear waste management. The Bundestag and Bundesrat had already passed this law in December 2016. The regulation is based on recommendations of the Commission for the Review of the Financing of the Nuclear Phase-out (KFK). The function of this commission is to examine financing options for the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear power plants and the disposal of radioactive waste.