Press Release 09 as of 2010/06/11

Licence granted to transport highly radioactive waste to the Nord interim storage facility operated by Energiewerke Nord GmbH
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) has granted the licence application submitted on 10 June 2009 concerning the transport of five casks containing highly radioactive vitrified waste canisters from the WAK Wiederaufarbeitungsanlage Karlsruhe Rückbau- und Entsorgungs-GmbH, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, to the Nord interim storage facility in Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern).

The transport licence was granted once it had been established that the application complied with the licence requirements as set out in § 4 of the Atomic Energy Act. CASTOR HAW 20/28 casks will be used for these licensed transports. The transport licence issued is what’s known as a bound decision. This means that the licensing authority is obliged to approve the application if the legal requirements are fulfilled.

When the transport licence, which expires on 13 December 2010, will be used is the sole concern of the licence holder Nuclear Cargo + Service GmbH. Specific transport dates and routes must, according to BfS requirements, be established in consultation with the interior ministries of the states affected by the transport.