Competent federal and Land authorities

Following the issuing of an organisational decree by the Federal Chancellor, responsibility for nuclear safety and radiation protection passed from the Ministry of the Interior, which had previously held this portfolio, to the newly established Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in 1986 (December 2013 - March 2018: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety - BMUB; March 2018 - Dezember 2021: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety – BMU; since Dezember 2021: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection - BMUV). In the exercise of its statutory responsibilities pertaining to the safe utilisation of nuclear energy, the BMUV’s remit includes clarifying fundamental issues of relevance to the safety of nuclear facilities. This includes, in particular, supervision of the legality and expediency of the action taken by the nuclear authorities of the Länder, the development and revision of legislation and technical regulations, and international cooperation. 

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) are among the authorities which fall within the purview of the BMUV. 

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is a scientific and technical higher federal authority set up in accordance with the Act on the Establishment of a Federal Office for Radiation Protection of 9 October 1989, last amended by Article 3 of the Act on Organisational Restructuring in the Field of Radioactive Waste Management of 26 July 2016. 

BfS works for the safety and protection of people and the environment against damage caused by ionising and non-ionising radiation. In relation to ionising radiation, its work focuses, for example, on the use of X-rays for diagnostic purposes in medicine, safety in the handling of radioactive substances in nuclear technology, accident management and protection against enhanced natural radioactivity. The work in the field of non-ionising radiation includes protection against ultraviolet radiation and the effects of mobile communications.

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) is a scientific and technical federal authority set up in accordance with the Act on the Establishment of a Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management of 23 July 2013, amended by Article 4 of the Act on Organisational Restructuring in the Field of Radioactive Waste Management of 26 July 2016.

The BASE is the regulatory authority for the site selection procedure for a repository for high-level radioactive wastes. It also coordinates the public consultation and undertakes task-related research. It acts as the supervisory authority for final storage schemes and is the planning approval authority. It is responsible, furthermore, for granting approval for nuclear fuel transport and interim storage of spent fuel elements from the operation of nuclear power plants or radioactive waste from reprocessing.

BASE staff members monitor the latest scientific and technological developments in the field of nuclear safety at the national and international level. The BASE’s Incident Registration Centre logs and documents all reportable events occurring in German nuclear installations. The reviews of these events and the findings of investigations are used by the BASE in order to propose improvements to nuclear safety, for example during the drafting of national and international safety standards.