1.	Is there international cooperation in case of nuclear emergencies?
2.	What is done in Germany to prevent nuclear accidents?
3.	Has one come to the obvious conclusions for local nuclear power plants following the Chernobyl reactor accident?
4.	How is the safety of nuclear power plants surveyed?
5.	Who surveys the safety of nuclear power plants?
6.	What is the safety of German nuclear power plants based on?
7.	Which reactor types are operated in Germany?

1.	Is there international cooperation in case of nuclear emergencies? Many countries have taken precautions against nuclear emergencies. Germany is integrated in an international system of emergency management which supplements the national precautionary system. The far-reaching international network serves to detect in time unexpected releases of radioactive substances and to limit the consequences of nuclear accidents to man and the environment. Agreements on quick information do exist in the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA in Vienna. Among others, there are bilateral agreements about the exchange of information with France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. In case of emergency, Germany itself is likewise obliged to make its data and information easily available to the decision-making bodies abroad. This task is performed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
2.	What is done in Germany to prevent nuclear accidents? Protecting health and life of its citizens is one of the first tasks of the state. This commitment also applies to dangers brought about by modern technologies or new techniques. In the area of nuclear power plant technology, the reprocessing of spent fuels, transport and the final disposal of radioactive substances, safety is therefore most essential, as it is in the application of radioactive substances in industry and the medical field. Most effective are those safety measures which have avoided possible critical situations right from the beginning. In Germany each nuclear facility must therefore comply with high safety requirements; the state surveys rigorously the planning, erection and operation of such facilities. The operators of nuclear facilities are obliged to take precautionary measures against possible accidents – only then is the facility granted an operation permit. High safety requirements apply to the transport of radioactive substances or the handling of radioactive substances in industry and medicine. Although the risk of a nuclear accident is kept low right from the beginning, it cannot be disregarded entirely. Events such as Chernobyl or Three Mile Island or the crash of a satellite with nuclear fuel on board have made clear that accidents or catastrophes occur abruptly and that it is possible that they affect many persons. If the state consequently pursues its idea of protection, precautionary measures must be taken for the case of an emergency, in addition to technically mature safety concepts. To protect the population in case of accident-caused releases of radioactive substances, the Precautionary Radiation Protection Act has been decreed in the Federal Republic of Germany. Among others, it is the legal basis for the monitoring of environmental radioactivity and for the preparation of measures to keep radiation exposure of man as low as possible. Germany has a multi-staged concept for emergency situations. It is composed of duties of the operators of nuclear facilities, duties of the federal states (Laender) and of the federation. The tasks and measures of the operators of nuclear facilities concentrate on the facility itself and the surrounding close-up range. In particular immediate measures must be initiated in case of emergency in order to keep the releases of radioactive substances into the environment as low as possible. In addition to this, the radiological situation in situ and in the close-up range of the facility must be measured, the measurement results must be made available to the federal state authorities. Measures for the protection of the staff inside the facility and in its close-up range must be taken. The federal states have the supervision of the nuclear facilities. They organize and coordinate additionally the emergency management measures in order to keep the radiological effects to the population in the vicinity of the facility as low as possible in case of emergency. This includes measures such as traffic organization, provision of materials needed and measurement possibilities to evaluate the situation, warning of the public, distribution of iodine tablets, evacuation and in particular medical care of particularly affected population groups and the training of the corresponding staff. Within the scope of the Precautionary Radiation Protection Act, the federation– irrespective of special polluters – must determine and evaluate the situation throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) is in charge of this (IMIS). It uses the services of its subordinated authorities, in particular BfS, but also of other federal authorities and the support of federal state authorities, e. g. of the laboratories where the contamination of food and feedstuffs is measured. BMU gives corresponding recommendations about precautionary health protection to the population with regard to modes of behaviour and decides, if required in coordination with the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, if and which measures will be required.
3.	Has one come to the obvious conclusions for local nuclear power plants following the Chernobyl reactor accident? Inspections carried out by the Reactor Safety Commission being in charge had the result that no obvious conclusions would have to be drawn for local nuclear power plants due to the cause and course of the reactor accident in Chernobyl . Anyhow, accident management measures were introduced with which damage can be avoided even in case of multi-failures of safety equipment, which is, however, very improbable. It is and will remain the objective of the “reactor safety policy” of the Federal Government to take care that technical-scientific progress and operational experience can be used to ensure and increase the safety of the use of nuclear energy.
4.	How is the safety of nuclear power plants surveyed? To maintain the quality standard that has been achieved with the building of a nuclear power plant, so-called “periodic safety reviews” have to be carried out apart from the normal maintenance and repair work during the whole lifetime of the facility. Not only are the facility and their single components regularly inspected but they are also subjected to intensive pressure and function checks and analyses with the most modern methods, e. g. ultrasound, eddy current and X-ray examinations. With these inspection methods faults can already be recognised early, long before they can cause a damage.
5.	Who surveys the safety of nuclear power plants? Manufacturers and operators of nuclear power plants are responsible within the scope of the legal obligations for the qualified manufacturing and the safe operation of the facility. Already during the erection of the facility the federal state authorities perform an accompanying control. During the operational phase the facilities are permanently under regulatory supervision.
6.	What is the safety of German nuclear power plants based on? Core of the design systematics of the German nuclear power plants is a system of safety levels staged one behind the other and acting independently of each other: Prevention of disturbances through the high quality of the design (e. g. materials, production) and the mode of operation (e. g. expertise, periodic inspections), Limitation of disturbances through technical regulating and limiting devices, Control of disturbances through safety-related equipment (among others automation). Furthermore, established principles such as a multi-barrier system for the retention of radioactive substances, redundancy (there are frequently several versions of safety-relevantly important components), diversity (redundant components originate from various manufacturers and/or have various modes of operation), spatial separation of redundant components and deconcentration of systems are applied. On the basis of an extensive body of legislation a quality assurance system has been created in Germany according to which all steps of inspection, erection and operation of the German nuclear power plants are surveyed. The ultimate ambition of this supervision is: Safety has always priority over economic considerations.
7.	Which reactor types are operated in Germany? Currently two reactor types are used for energy production in Germany: 11 pressurised water reactors and 6 boiling water reactors are in operation. Both reactor types comply with the same strict safety requirements for nuclear facilities in Germany.