Tell us what you think. Our aim is to create transparency and being more available to citizens. Enter into dialogue with us – we are looking forward to it. How satisfied are you in general with the transparency of Konrad and our availability to citizens? Creating confidence through safety. Very satisfied Satisfied Not satisfied Reason: How do you like this information brochure? Creating confidence through safety. I like it a lot I like it Don’t like it Reason: How satisfied are you with the Konrad communication in the Federal Office for Radiation Protection’s information centre INFO KONRAD (exhibition, touchscreens, film, shaft model, personal talk)? Very satisfied Satisfied Not satisfied No experiences yet Reason: Konrad repository. Place for further questions and suggestions: Answers to the most frequently asked questions. " Challenge us – or ask for more material. We would like to answer all your questions about the Konrad topic. Enter into dialogue with us – we are looking forward to it. I would like to make an appointment for a personal talk. Please call me about this issue. Yes, I would like to go more in depth. Please call me to arrange an appointment with me for visiting the INFOKONRAD Konrad mine. Chemnitzer Strasse 27 38226 Salzgitter, Germany I am interested in topics other than Konrad the Federal Office for Radiation Protection deals with. Phone +49 (0)5341 867 3099 Fax +49 (0) 3018 333 1285 I am planning a mobile exhibition on the topic in a public institution. [email protected] Please call me about this issue. www.endlager-konrad.de 43 Title/First name/Last name* POSTAGE PAID Street* City/town/postcode* ReplY to thE Daytime telephone no. Information Point of the Federal E-mail address Office for Radiation Protection INFOKONRAD Date of birth Chemnitzer Strasse 27 Profession 38226 Salzgitter *Required details Germany Publisher: Federal Office for Radiation Protection " Content: Federal Office for Radiation Protection, INFO KONRAD Title/First name/Last name* POSTAGE PAID Concept, design and consultancy: Stiehl/Over GmbH Street* Gesellschaft für Markenkommunikation GWA City/town/postcode* Printed: ReplY to thE With organic ink on unbleached, 100% recyclable paper Daytime telephone no. Publisher: Information Point of the Federal Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz Pictures sourced from: E-mail address Office for Radiation Protection Postfach 100149 Federal Office for Radiation Protection, BAM, DBE, EWN, 38201 Salzgitter, Germany INFOKONRAD GNS, Marc Steinmetz (Seiten 10, 13, 18, 26, 28), FZK Date of birth Phone +49 (0) 30 183 33-0 Chemnitzer Strasse 27 Fax +49 (0) 30 183 33-1885 Picture left: The Federal Office for Radiation Protection information Updated: Profession [email protected] · www.bfs.de centre for the future Konrad repository. March 2011 38226 Salzgitter *Required details Germany 02 koNtakt Contents 1. Waste generation: Why there is a need for radioactive waste repositories in Germany. 04 2. Conditioning: How radioactive waste for the Konrad repository is packed and controlled. 10 3. Transport: How the waste gets to the Konrad repository and underground. 14 4. Disposal: How it is managed in Germany and abroad. 18 5. Interim storage: How the radioactive waste is currently stored. 22 6. History: How the Konrad ore deposit became a repository. 24 7. Suitability: Why the Konrad mine is suitable to host a repository. 26 8. Safety: How we fulfil our responsibility to man and environment. 30 9. Legal and social requirements: Why Konrad is a complex challenge. 36 10. Space for your notes. 40 11. Dialogue with Konrad. 42 Title: Area of Konrad 1. 03 1. Waste generation: Why there is a need for radioactive waste repositories in Germany. 04 Why waste does not equal waste. is both scientifically explored and accepted by the popu- Consumer waste, radioactive and chemical waste espe- lation to the greatest possible extent. No unacceptable KOnrAD TERMS cially differs in the emanating risk potential to man and burdens should be imposed on following generations environment. after emplacement operations in Konrad will have stop- ped and the repository will have been sealed. While normal consumer waste does usually not have major effects on health, residues from the chemical Germany is among the countries that will dispose of all industry must be treated in a special way. They are fre- types of radioactive waste in deep geological formations quently toxic and thus also hazardous. For many people in future. Thus maximum protection of man and envi- it is difficult to assess the potentially harmful effects ronment can be ensured. This decision was made on the of ionising radiation emanating from radioactive waste, basis of the population density, the climatic conditions since it cannot be perceived by man with any sense and the fact that suitable geological formations exist in organ. We cannot smell, see, taste or feel radioactivity, Germany. irrespective if it is weak or strong – it is nevertheless dangerous, often over longer periods of time. According to the “Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management”, radioactive waste is to be pre- Why man and environment need to be protected. ferably disposed of in the country where it has been pro- Radioactive waste can be very hazardous. The emanating duced. Radioactive waste disposal is thus a national task. ionising radiation can cause permanent tissue and gene- tic material abnormalities and it can cause cancer. To achieve an enduring protection of man and environment What types of radioactive waste there are. from this ionising radiation, strict legal regulations in Waste does not equal waste. In Germany we distinguish terms of radioactive waste and its disposal are in effect between two types of radioactive waste: heat-genera- Toxic: Toxicity or harmfulness of a substance. in Germany. ting, high-level radioactive waste and waste with negli- Ionising: Feature of particle or electromagnetic radiation to remove one gible heat generation, also referred to as low-level and or several electrons from atoms or molecules, so that positively charged The federal government has decided to dispose of radi- intermediate-level radioactive waste. For safety reasons ions or molecule fragments remain. oactive waste in deep geological formations, i.e. deep one intends to dispose of both types in deep geological Radioactivity: Feature of instable atomic nuclei to spontaneously trans- underground, in order to isolate it from the biological formations. form releasing energy. The released energy is discharged in the form of cycle for as long as possible. The waste is to be perma- ionising radiation, namely high-energy particles and/or gamma radiation. nently disposed of free of maintenance on a site which In the Konrad repository, “radioactive waste with negli- gible heat generation” will be disposed of in future. The Negligible heat generation: Radionuclides cause an increase in tempe- rature due to the heat generating during the radioactive decay. In waste Left photo: Currently, about 96,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste with classification according to heat-generating waste and with negligible heat generation the increase in temperature in the sur- negligible heat generation are being stored in interim storage facilities. waste with negligible heat generation was especially rounding host rock must not exceed 3 degrees centigrade. waSTE GENERatION 05 Waste generation made with respect to disposal. The international classi- BWR SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN fication is “low-level and intermediate-level radioactive Greifswald/Rubenow PWR PWR PWR PWR PWR PWR 806 waste”, radioactivity itself being the key criterion here. Brunsbüttel Brokdorf 1.480 PWR Je 440 HAMBURG Stade MECKLENBURG-WESTERN BWR POMERANIA 672 Geesthacht Krümmel Unterweser PWR Where the radioactive waste originates from. PWR 1.402 15,0 5,0 Rheinsberg Radioactive, heat-generating waste is produced as BREMEN Munster Gorleben 70 1.410 spent fuel elements in nuclear power plants and in the BWR PWR LOWER SAXONY reprocessing of spent fuel elements. Waste with negli- Leese 252 1.400 BERLIN gible heat generation accrues in the decommissioning Lingen PWR 1,0 10,0 Grohnde Braunschweig and operation of nuclear power plants, in the nuclear Gronau Morsleben 1.430 Konrad industry, the nuclear research, very small volumes Ahaus Asse BRANDENBURG HTR are produced in the medical field or originate from BWR SAXONY- Hamm-Uentrop ANHALT 308 Würgassen the Federal Armed Forces. Among others, it contains 670 NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA contaminated material such as plant components, buil- HTR SAXONY ding rubble, tools and protective clothing, sludges or Rossendorf/ 15 23,0 HESSE Dresden suspensions. In the years to come, the amount of waste Jülich 10,0 THURINGIA resulting from the operation and decommissioning of Ebsdorfergrund Nuclear power station; PWR Figures: gross power output in MWe nuclear power plants will increase, as their dismantling Mülheim-Kärlich Research reactor; Figures: thermal power output in MW; Research reactors with constant thermal power output has been proceeding. 1.302 BWR of more than 50 kW RHINELAND- PALATINATE Hanau Kahl PWR Mitterteich Interim storage (in accordance with §6 AtG) Mainz 16 PWR PWR Approximate 290,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste Grafen- rheinfeld Nuclear fuel supply Biblis 1.345 Ellweiler 0,1 with negligible heat generation are to be expected until 1.225 1.300 Final repositories SAARLAND PWR 2050, approximate 63 percent of which would originate Obrigheim Disposal (e.g. conditioning plants, intermediate Elm- BWR PWR BAVARIA storage facilities) from nuclear power plants and the nuclear industry and Derlen 357 Philippsburg 37 percent from state institutions. Additionally, 7,500 926 1.468 PWR PWR BWR PWR State collection depots PWR FBR Karlsruhe Neckarwestheim cubic metres of radioactive waste will be produced in the 840 1.400 Isar Nuclear fuel reprocessing plants 912 1.485 57 21 44,0 eleven federal state collecting depots. The fraction of BWR BWR BWR Gundremmingen waste originating from medicine amounts to less than one Operational 1.344 1.344 250 percent.