Global Research for Safety

GRS (Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit - Global Research for Safety) is a non-profit scientific research organisation under section 68 no. 9 of the German Fiscal Code. Its activities are dedicated to the scientific aspects of nuclear safety (and security), radiation protection and the nuclear fuel cycle. Where its findings are relevant to the non-nuclear sector, it also deals with specific environmental protection and safety research issues. GRS regularly presents its work to the expert community and is expected to publish the results of its scientific research.

The organisation has a staff of 440. Its headquarters are located in Cologne, some of its units in Garching, Braunschweig and Berlin. GRS's revenue amounts to 53 million euros, the balance-sheet total to 57.8 million euros (as at 31 December 2015).

GRS is a private limited company (GmbH), governed (in particular) by the Limited Liability Companies Act (GmbHG). As a major corporation as defined in section 267 paragraph 3 of the Commercial Code, it is also subject to the relevant provisions of chapter III of the Commercial Code.

The Federal Republic of Germany holds 46.15 percent of GRS's shares and the two Länder Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia 3.85 percent each (public sector 53.85 percent). The remaining shares are held by Technische Überwachungsvereine (TÜVs) (46.15 percent).

GRS's administrative bodies are the general assembly, the general management (two managing directors) and the supervisory board.

As GRS is not subject to worker participation under co-determination legislation or the Act on One-Third Employee Representation in the Supervisory Board, there is no legal obligation to set up a supervisory board. GRS's shareholders decided to set up an optional supervisory board in accordance with section 52 of the GmbHG. The supervisory board meets once every six months. GRS's shareholders have direct powers of appointment and removal: five members of the supervisory board are appointed/removed by the Federal Government, one member by each of the two Länder and five members by the TÜV shareholder group. The supervisory board currently counts 11 members (including five appointed by the Federal Government).

Three members are women (all three appointed by the Federal Government). The supervisory board's functions are derived from the GmbHG, GRS's company agreement and the rules of procedure for this body. GRS has applied the Public Corporate Governance Codex (PCGK) since 2012.

The supervisory board oversees and advises the two managing directors. Prior consent by the supervisory board is required in particular for the company's organisational set-up and major changes to it, for work and research programmes and for economic, financial and investment plans and their modifications. The same goes for the appointment and dismissal of managing staff, the signing and modification of employment contracts not covered by collective agreement or above the collectively agreed wage scale and freelance contracts, the appointment and dismissal of authorised officers, transactions that exceed normal operations (extraordinary transactions) and activities that might have a significant impact on GRS's position and work, general remuneration and social regulations, the acceptance of pension obligations, severance payments, the schedule of fees, disposal of GRS's real estate (including rental and leasing agreements) and counselling and other service contracts with the auditor that go beyond annual auditing assignments.

The supervisory board also appoints and dismisses the two managing directors. Employment contracts for the managing directors must be approved by the supervisory board.

More information on GRS and its supervisory board are provided in GRS's annual report and in its annual Governance declaration under PCGK. Both documents can be found on the GRS web page.

(Last Updated: December 2022)