Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung

{{Short description|German federally owned company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH

| logo = Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung logo.svg

| logo_caption =

| logo_alt =

| type = GmbH

| industry =

| fate =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| founded = July 2016

| founder =

| defunct =

| hq_location_city = Peine, Lower Saxony

| hq_location_country = Germany

| area_served =

| key_people = Stefan Studt,[http://www.paz-online.de/Stadt-Peine/BGE-in-Peine-Stefan-Studt-neuer-Leiter-der-Geschaeftsfuehrung BGE in Peine: Stefan Studt neuer Leiter der Geschäftsführung.] In: Peiner Allgemeine Zeitung. 1 August 2018. Steffen Kanitzund Thomas Lautsch{{cite web|title=BfS-Präsident König wird das neue Bundesamt für kerntechnische Entsorgungssicherheit leiten|periodical=|publisher=Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz|url=http://www.bfs.de/SharedDocs/Kurzmeldungen/BfS/DE/2016/0803-bfe.html|url-status=dead|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021092011/http://www.bfs.de/SharedDocs/Kurzmeldungen/BfS/DE/2016/0803-bfe.html|archive-date=2021-10-21|last=|date=2016-08-03|language=|pages=|quote=}}[https://www.bge.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Organisation/Organigramm/2020-09-01-Organigramm.pdf Organigramm der Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH.] Retrieved 29 September 2020 (PDF).

| products =

| services = High-level radioactive waste management

| owner =

| num_employees = {{circa}} 1900

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| website = [https://www.bge.de/ www.bge.de]

}}

The Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE; Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal) is a German federally owned company based in Peine, Lower Saxony, Germany.{{Cite web|title=Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung kommt nach Peine|url=https://www.paz-online.de/Stadt-Peine/Bundesgesellschaft-fuer-Endlagerung-kommt-nach-Peine|access-date=2020-10-27|website=PAZ-online.de|language=de}}

The BGE is tasked with high-level radioactive waste management, which includes looking for a site for a repository for high-level radioactive waste that will guarantee the best possible safety for one million years, as well as operating the Konrad and Morsleben final repositories as well as the Asse II and Gorleben mines.{{Cite web|last=BGE|date=|title=Our Tasks|url=https://www.bge.de/en/bge/tasks/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021041529/https://www.bge.de/en/bge/tasks/ |archive-date=2020-10-21 |access-date=2020-11-25|website=www.bge.de}}

It was established in July 2016, after a law on the reorganisation of the administrative structure in the area of final disposal for nuclear waste had passed. It is organised under private law as a GmbH, a limited liability company, with the sole shareholder being the German Federal Government.{{Cite web|last=Federal Republic of Germany|date=|title=§ 9a Gesetz über die friedliche Verwendung der Kernenergie und den Schutz gegen ihre Gefahren (Atomgesetz) ["German Atomic Energy Act"]|url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/atg/__9a.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123221743/http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/atg/__9a.html |archive-date=2011-11-23 |access-date=2020-11-25|website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de}}

Previously-existing entities Asse-GmbH, the Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe as well as parts of the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz were merged into the BGE on 20 December 2017.{{Cite web|title=Hauptsitz der Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung|url=https://www.paz-online.de/Stadt-Peine/Hauptsitz-der-Bundesgesellschaft-fuer-Endlagerung|access-date=2020-10-27|website=PAZ-online.de|language=de}}{{Cite web|title=Neue BGE-Atombehörde: Heinen-Esser wird Leiterin|url=https://www.paz-online.de/Stadt-Peine/Neue-BGE-Atombehoerde-Heinen-Esser-wird-Leiterin|access-date=2020-10-27|website=PAZ-online.de|language=de}}Hans-Jürgen Weyer: Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung formiert sich. In: GMIT/Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen Nr. 71, March 2018, p. 22–33.

The organisational structure and tasks of the BGE result from the German Atomic Energy Act (paragraph 9a, sub-paragraph 3, sentences 2 ff. AtG) and the German Repository Site Selection Act (StandAG{{Cite web|last=Federal Republic of Germany|date=|title=Gesetz zur Suche und Auswahl eines Standortes für ein Endlager für hochradioaktive Abfälle (Standortauswahlgesetz - StandAG)|url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/standag_2017/BJNR107410017.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116171156/http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de:80/standag_2017/BJNR107410017.html |archive-date=2017-11-16 |access-date=|website=}}). Accordingly, it is the responsibility of the federal government to construct and operate repositories for radioactive waste. In order to fulfil this tasks the federal government shall establish a private corporation whose sole shareholder is the German Federal Government.

The federal government continues to exercise supervision through the Bundesamt für die Sicherheit der nuklearen Entsorgung, an independent federal agency operating under the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The members of BGE's supervisory board were appointed in July 2017.{{Cite web|title=PM - 06/17 - Aufsichtsrat der BGE berufen - BGE|url=https://www.bge.de/de/pressemitteilungen/2017/07/pm-0617-aufsichtsrat-der-bge-berufen/|access-date=2020-10-27|website=www.bge.de}}

BGE has been the operator of the Asse II mine, the Konrad mine, and the Morsleben radioactive waste repository since April 2017.{{Cite web |title=Organisation - BGE |url=https://www.bge.de/de/bge/organisation/ |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=www.bge.de}} The company also has offices in Berlin and Gorleben.{{Cite web|last=BGE|date=|title=Short information about Asse II mine|url=https://www.bge.de/en/asse/short-information/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020003516/https://www.bge.de/en/asse/short-information/ |archive-date=2020-10-20 |access-date=2020-11-25|website=www.bge.de}}{{Cite web|last=BGE|date=|title=Short Information about the Konrad repository|url=https://www.bge.de/en/konrad/short-information/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021135202/https://www.bge.de/en/konrad/short-information/ |archive-date=2020-10-21 |access-date=2020-11-25|website=www.bge.de}}{{Cite web|last=BGE|date=|title=Short Information about the Morsleben repository|url=https://www.bge.de/en/morsleben/short-information/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019220420/https://www.bge.de/en/morsleben/short-information/ |archive-date=2020-10-19 |access-date=2020-11-25|website=www.bge.de}}

In September 2020, the BGE published the interim report on sub-areas, in which an interim status of the scientific investigations into the potential repositories was presented.{{Cite web |title=Endlagersuche: Zwischenbericht Teilgebiete - BGE |url=https://www.bge.de/de/endlagersuche/zwischenbericht-teilgebiete/ |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=www.bge.de}} The public was informed about this in the magazine Insights 12/2021.

In its "Einblicke" magazine, the BGE provides information on the site search, Asse, Konrad and Morsleben repository projects. The magazine is distributed regionally or nationally as a press supplement and can be obtained by subscription.{{Cite web |title=BGE Einblicke: Magazine |url=https://www.einblicke.de/magazine/ |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=www.einblicke.de}}