Our Work

The way of working of the ESK is regulated by statutes and supported by a secretariat established within the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE). The ESK was established on 12th June 2008 at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and held its constituent meeting on 30th June 2008.

Requests for advice

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) issues requests for advice to the Commission. The Commission is also free to take up advising-relevant matters on its own accord.

In agreement with the Commission chairperson, the BMUV may issue requests for advice to a committee or a working group if the matter in question falls solely within the specialised areas of the relevant committee or working group and it is not so significant that it must be deliberated by the Commission.

Consultation procedure

As a result of its consultations, the Commission reaches resolutions on scientific and technical recommendations or statements directed to the BMUV. It does not make any legal or political assessments. It must provide clear and understandable reasons for its recommendations and statements. The statement of reasons shall include the specification of the objects of investigation, a description of the means of fact finding and a substantiation of the conclusions..

The Commission's recommendations and statements are provided, along with the pertinent reasons, to Länder authorities, for their information and published on the homepage of the Nuclear Waste Management Commission (with a BMUV assessment, where appropriate). The BMUV may publish them in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

Meetings

The meetings of the ESK, its committees and working groups are not public. Representatives of the BMUV and the secretariat participate in the meetings. Representatives of the stakeholders , such as federal authorities, authorised experts, operators, objectors, may participate in the consultations on matters affecting them.