Report of the Federal Government for the Seventh Review Meeting in May 2021

On 19 August 2020, the German Cabinet adopted the seventh report by the Federal Government on measures taken to implement the obligations under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The English version of the report was submitted to the depositary of the Convention, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on 26 October 2020.

There are currently 83 Parties to the Convention (as of October 2020). Germany has been a Party since 13 October 1998. The aims of the Convention are:

• to achieve and maintain a high safety standard worldwide in facilities for the disposal of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and radioactive waste, and
• to establish and maintain effective long-term measures to safeguard against possible hazards with radiological impacts in such disposal facilities.

Review Meetings of the Parties are held every three years to examine the extent to which the Parties have achieved these goals. The Parties must submit written reports, which are discussed and evaluated during the meetings. The Seventh Review Meeting, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, took place in Vienna from 27 June to 8 July 2022; the previous meetings were held – also in Vienna – in November 2003, May 2006, May 2009, May 2012, May 2015 and May 2018.