Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) and Nuclear Waste Management Commission (ESK)

On the topic of nuclear safety, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit - BMUB) gets recommendations and advice by

• the Reactor Safety Commission (Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission - RSK) and
• the Nuclear Waste Management Commission (Entsorgungskommission - ESK).

To ensure well-balanced advice, these commissions should be composed such that the entire range of opinions acceptable according to the state of the art of science and technology is represented. The members have to provide competent and objective advice. They are appointed by the BMUB. Either commission has established committees and working groups for specific issues.

Reactor Safety Commission (RSK)

The Reactor Safety Commission (Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission - RSK) advises the BMUB in matters of safety and those associated with the physical protection of nuclear installations. BfE staff are members of the RSK and the following committees:

• Plant and systems engineering (Anlagen- und Systemtechnik - AST),
• Pressure-retaining components and materials (Druckführende Komponenten und Werkstoffe - DKW),
• Electrical installations (Elektrische Einrichtungen - EE) and
• Reactor operation (Reaktorbetrieb - RB).

The BfE experts represented support the BMUB in terms of communicating the advisory requirements and the evaluation results gained from the discussions.

Nuclear Waste Management Commission (ESK)

The Nuclear Waste Management Commission (Entsorgungskommission - ESK) advises the BMUB in nuclear waste management issues (conditioning, interim storage and transports of radioactive material and waste, decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations, disposal in deep geological formations).

One BfE expert is represented in the competent Committee on Decommissioning (ESK-ST) of the Nuclear Waste Management Commission for questions relating to the safety in the decommissioning of nuclear installations.