50th meeting of the Franco-German Commission

The ASN delegation met their counterparts from the BMUV, BASE (Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management) and representatives of the safety authorities of the Länder Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, as well as a representative of GRS, the technical support organisation of the BMUV.

Lightbox

Discussions focused on current events and major issues in both countries, emergency preparedness, control of power plants near the German-French border, nuclear waste management and the status of decommissioning projects. Against the background of different energy policies, the exchange between the French and German safety authorities remains very important, as confirmed by the many questions asked and the quality of the discussions. The authorities of the two countries continue to share their experience and best practices in terms of safety and radiation protection at dismantling sites and to maintain a good level of cross-border cooperation in the management of emergency situations.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for participants to visit the Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy Research Berlin (HZB) in Wannsee, in particular its BER II light water research reactor and proton therapy centre. During its 40 years of operation, the BER II reactor has provided neutrons for a wide range of experiments, with 160 days of experiments per year. Applications include neutron tomography and archaeology. The BER II reactor will be shut down in 2019 and is currently awaiting approval for dismantling. The proton therapy treatment centre is located on the same site and uses a proton beam from the accelerators at the HZB centre. It treats around twenty patients with eye tumours every month. More than 4,000 patients have been treated there since it was set up in 1988.

The next meeting of the Franco-German commission will be held in France in 2025.