BASE - the supervisory body with responsibility for public participation

The law has assigned two tasks to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management in the search for a repository site: On the one hand, BASE is the control and supervisory authority in the search for a repository site. It reviews the proposals and exploratory results provided by BGE mbH and submits the reviewed proposal together with its recommendations for the repository site to the BMUV. It accompanies the search process from a scientific point of view and monitors whether the search is proceeding in the way that the law specifies.

On the other hand, BASE is responsible for public participation. It provides comprehensive information about the procedure and organises public participation. It uses this website to provide all stakeholders with the information that is essential for the site selection procedure – at an early stage, comprehensively, systematically and permanently. It organises the conferences and committees laid down in the law. It also offers opportunities for participation and dialogue services and evaluates the tools and procedures for public participation.

BGE mbH – implementer

The project delivery organisation (§ 3 of the Site Selection Act) implements the site selection procedure. According to the Act on the Reorganisation of Responsibility in Nuclear Waste Management, the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE mbH) is responsible for the operational business of the procedure. In particular, the company develops proposals for selecting siting regions and the locations that need to be surveyed and prepares exploratory programmes and checks criteria related to these sites. It performs the exploration work above and below ground for the sites that still need to be decided and draws up the preliminary safety analysis in each case. BGE mbH finally suggests to BASE which areas should continue to be surveyed after each phase. Once BASE has completed its checks, the German parliament will decide on the ongoing exploration sites at the conclusion of the various phases and will determine the final location of the disposal site too.

The National Civil Society Board – accompanying the search

The National Civil Society Board (NBG) consists of public personages and citizens who have been elected in a special procedure. Its members may not belong to a federal or state legislative body nor to a federal or state government. The task of this group is to accompany the site selection procedure as a mediating and independent body, ‘… with the aim of enabling trust in the implementation of the procedure.’ The role and task of the National Civil Society Board are laid down in § 8 of the Site Selection Act. The board met for the first time in December 2016.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV)

BASE is subject to the technical and legal supervision of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The Ministry verifies whether the site selection procedure is being performed according to the requirements and the criteria specified in the Site Selection Act.

The BMU has the overall political and administrative responsibility for disposal.

The German parliament

The site selection process is proceeding in several stages. After each stage, the German government presents a law for parliament to vote on. According to the law, the German parliament must debate the following:

• the siting regions for surface exploration (Section 15 of the Site Selection Act)
• the sites for underground exploration (Section 17 of the Site Selection Act)

• the site proposal (Section 20 of the Site Selection Act)