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The RSK

The RSK is widely acknowledged as the main body that, with its expertise, determines the state of the art in science and technology in the field of reactor safety for Germany and advises the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) on the extent to which the operators of nuclear installations fulfil the requirements regarding the necessary precautions (damage and risk prevention) through appropriate equipment, organisation and management.

The understanding of the RSK is that it not only deals with orders and requests of the BMU, but also, when it sees the need, defines own topics related to safety aspects of reactor safety and issues corresponding statements. This includes, in particular, early indications to safety-related aspects that may arise from current events or foreseeable developments. This also concerns, for example, maintenance of know-how and other impacts as a result of the "energy turnaround".

The RSK members bring in their expertise in the consultations impartially as independent persons and work together on a basis of trust. The objective of all members of the RSK is to implement the best possible safety for nuclear installations.

The work of the RSK should be as transparent as possible for all those involved (authorities, operators, manufacturers, authorised experts, the public). This applies to the work programmes, the presentation of the consultations, and the publication of the consultation results. The RSK sees limits of transparency if this would violate confidentiality requirements, or if there would be a risk of an external undue influence on the consultation result.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) appoints the members of the Commission for a period of up to three calendar years. A direct reappointment is possible.

The RSK should cover all technical subjects necessary for a competent advice of the BMU. The members have to provide competent and objective advice. To ensure a balanced advice, the RSK members should represent the whole range of acceptable opinions according to the state of the art in science and technology. The RSK forms committees and working groups for special technical issues.

After hearing the Commission members, the BMU appoints the chairman and his deputy.

RSK membership is a personal honorary office. RSK members are independent and not bound by directives.

The RSK consists of the following members:

The way of working of the RSK is regulated by a Statute [39 KB] that has been announced publicly (Federal Gazette 1999, Page 201) and supported by a General Secretariat established at the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS).

Requests for advice

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) requests the Commission for advice. The Commission may also address topics for advice on its own.
In agreement with the chairman of the Commission, the BMU may issue a request on advice from a committee or working group of the RSK if the subject matter solely falls within the competence of this committee or this working group and its significance does not require a discussion within the Commission.

Advisory procedure

As result of their meetings, the commission passes technical-scientific recommendations or statements that are submitted to the BMU. The Commission does not make any legal assessments. Recommendations or statements have to be substantiated in a comprehensible manner. This comprises a clear description of the objects under consideration, the fact-finding basis and substantiation of the conclusions derived from it.
The recommendations and statements of the Commission are submitted to the competent Land authority for their attention and made available to the public on the Internet. The BMU may publish them in the Federal Gazette.

Meetings

The meetings of the RSK, its committees and working groups are not open to the public. Representatives of the BMU and the General Secretariat participate in all meetings. Representatives of the competent Land authority may participate in all meetings. Representatives of the groups concerned, as e. g. authorised experts, plant operators and objectors, may participate in certain parts of the meeting where the issues are dealt with by which they are affected; specifications on it are laid down in the Statute.

By mutual agreement with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) or on its demand, the RSK sets up special committees to discuss technical issues and to prepare corresponding recommendations and statements. For special issues the handling of which takes a longer period of time, special working groups may be established. The members of the committees and working groups are appointed by the BMU on the proposal of the RSK. These are normally the members of the RSK.

In order to deal with safety-related issues arising at short notice and to prepare the drafting of statements and recommendations, the RSK and its committees may set up ad hoc working groups for a limited period of time. These ad hoc working groups consist of members of the RSK or their committees.

At present, there are the following committees:

The Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) shall be established within the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (short name: BMU).

The Reactor Safety Commission advises the BMU in matters of safety of nuclear installations, and in related matters pertaining to the safety and security of nuclear installations and to the disposal of radioactive waste.

The Reactor Safety Commission normally has 12 members. The Commission should include representatives of those specialised areas that are directly relevant to the task of expert advising of the BMU in the matters set forth in Art. 2. The Commission's members must ensure that the BMU receives expert, objective advising. In the interest of balanced advising, the Reactor Safety Commission should be so structured that the entire range of tenable views in light of the state of the art in science and technology is represented.

(1) Membership in the Commission is a personally held voluntary office that admits no substitutions. The Commission's members are independent and are not bound to any directives. They must respect the professional opinions of other members and observe the rules for scientific discourse.

(2) As a rule, the BMU appoints the Commission's members for terms of three calendar years. In general, reappointments in direct succession should result in total tenures of office of no more than six years, except in individual cases in which longer tenures of office are required for reasons of continuity.

(3) The BMU may terminate any member's membership early, for special reasons. Such reasons must be announced to the member in question and to the Commission. A member may not be removed early for reasons having to do with his/her professional views.

(4) Before taking up their duties, Commission members are obligated, by the BMU, to carry out their duties conscientiously and objectively, to observe the confidentiality of meetings (Art. 14 (4)) and to maintain secrecy with regard to matters that are the subject of a licensing or supervisory procedure under nuclear law or radiation-protection law and that they learn about as Commission members.

After hearing the Commission, the BMU appoints the chairperson and his/her deputy, for a term normally lasting one calendar year. As a rule, when the chairperson serves two terms in immediate succession, his/her total time in office should not exceed a period of two years.

(1) In agreement with the BMU, or at the BMU's request, the Commission establishes committees for matters that require ongoing work, establishes working groups for individual, specialised, interdisciplinary or project-related matters and determines the work orders for such committees and working groups. Acting on the Commission's nominations, the BMU appoints the members of committees and working groups and appoints their chairpersons. Committee chairpersons must be Commission members.

(2) The provisions of Art. 4 (1), (2) Sentence 1, (3) and (4), Art. 5 Sentence 1, Art. 10, Art. 11 (5), Art. 12 (3) and (4) and Arts. 13 through 16 apply mutatis mutandis for committees and working groups, except where their activities are governed by special rules of procedure of the BMU in keeping with the principles of these statutes.

In agreement with the BMU, the Commission, its committees and its working groups may draw on the assistance of authorised experts in their deliberations. In each case, the relevant chairperson must obligate authorised experts to maintain confidentiality (Art. 14 (4)) regarding the proceedings of meetings.

Within the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), the BMU shall establish an office for the Commission, which office shall not be subject to the BfS's instructions in technical/specialised matters. The office supports the Commission, and its committees and working groups, in carrying out its tasks, especially in accordance with Art. 12 (3) and (4) and Art. 15.

(1) The BMU issues advising orders to the Commission. The Commission is also free to take up advising-relevant matters of its own accord.

(2) In agreement with the Commission chairperson, the BMU may issue advising orders 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.

(1) Those Commission members shall be excluded from deliberations who

1. are themselves participants in a licensing or supervisory procedure that is the subject of the deliberation in question; in this regard, persons shall be considered equal to participants if they stand to incur a direct advantage or disadvantage via their activities or via the authority's decisions in the matter being deliberated;

2. if they are employed, against payment, by a natural or legal entity or association belonging to the group of persons specified in number 1, or are active for such an entity or association as a member of the board of management, supervisory board or other equivalent organ; this shall not apply for an entity whose employees are a participant;

3. outside of their activity in the Commission, and in the matter that is being deliberated, or is to be deliberated, by the Commission, have provided an expert opinion for the relevant applicant or entity subject to a supervisory measure, have advised the relevant applicant or entity or have been otherwise active for the relevant applicant or entity.

(2) If a Commission member considers himself/herself to be biased, or if there are any doubts as to whether the prerequisites of Para. 1 are fulfilled, then such opinion or doubts must be communicated to the chairperson. The chairperson shall notify the BMU of such communication. The Commission shall then decide on any exclusion. The member in question may not participate in such decision.

(3) An excluded member may not be present at the relevant deliberation and resolution; he/she may be heard during the relevant meeting, however.

(4) Commission members are obligated to notify the BMU of any correspondence or discussion they exchange or engage in, in their function as Commission members, with applicants or with persons subject to supervisory measures, regarding matters that are the subject of Commission deliberations.

(1) As a result of its deliberations, the Commission reaches resolutions on scientific and technical recommendations or statementns for the BMU. It does not make any legal assessments. It must provide clear and understandable reasons for its recommendations and statements. In the reasons for a recommendation or statement, the matters being studied must be precisely described, the resources and facts used must be identified and the resulting conclusions must be documented.

(2) If the Commission finds itself unable to issue a recommendation or statement, it asserts this in a resolution and describes its pertinent reasons.

(3)The Commission's recommendations and statements are provided, along with the pertinent reasons, to Länder authorities, for their information, and they are made available to the general public on request. The BMU may publish them in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

(4) The Commission's committees and working groups prepare proposals for recommendations or statements, as preparation for the Commission's deliberations. Statements of a committee or working group relative to advising orders of the BMU pursuant to Art. 9 (2) are forwarded to the BMU and to the Commission.

(5) The Commission may not issue any statements to third parties, or provide any information to third parties, without the consent of the BMU.

(1) Subject to the agreement of the BMU, the Commission chooses the times and places for its meetings, doing so, as a rule, for a calendar year in advance.

(2) The BMU, the chairperson or at least one third of the Commission's members may call for an extraordinary meeting to take place.

(3) The chairperson convokes the Commission's meetings. Invitations to meetings, and provisional agendas, are prepared and sent out by the Commission's office, under commission to the chairperson and in agreement with the BMU; such invitations and provisional agendas should reach meeting participants at least two weeks before the relevant meeting is to take place. Applications of the BMU are to be included.

(4) The chairperson may have the office prepare written documents relative to deliberation problems, bases for deliberation, proposals for resolutions and possible alternative resolutions. The deliberation materials should reach the Commission members, the BMU and, to the extent they are affected, persons invited pursuant to Art. 13 (2) and (4), at least one week prior to the relevant meeting.

(1) The Commission's meetings are not public.

(2) At the request of the BMU, representatives of other federal and Länder authorities may be invited to meetings. They are to be invited if the subject being deliberated touches on a licensing or supervisory procedure under nuclear law that falls within their area of responsibility; their representatives must be heard on request; they have the right to take part in deliberation of the matters affecting them.

(3) Authorised experts consulted in licensing or supervisory procedures, expert representatives of applicants and entities filing objections and entities participating in supervisory procedures may be invited, by the Commission chairperson and in agreement with the BMU, to meetings, if they agree to maintain the confidentiality of the relevant deliberations. Such experts, representatives and entities must be heard at the request of the BMU or the competent authority. They have the right to take part in deliberation of the matters affecting them.

(4) Authorised experts consulted by the Commission (Art. 7) take part in those agenda items of meetings about which they are to be heard.

(5) Representatives of the BMU and of the office participate in all parts of meetings.

(6) In reaching of resolutions regarding the issuing of a recommendation or opinion, as a rule only representatives of the BMU and of the office may be present, in addition to the Commission's members.

(1) The chairperson chairs the meetings.

(2) At the beginning of each meeting, the Commission specifies the final agenda, in agreement with the BMU.

(3) The record of the results of the previous meeting is to be approved by the Commission.

(4) The Commission's meetings are confidential. Meeting participants may not provide third parties with any information about the remarks of individual members, about voting and about the contents of the record of results.

(1) The office, working in agreement with the relevant chairperson, prepares a record of results for each meeting. The record of results contains:

(2) In order to facilitate preparation of records of results, the office records meetings on audio recording media; it permits Commission members and the BMU's representatives to hear such recordings. Such recordings are to be deleted within no more than one year.

(3) The record of results must be signed by the chairperson of the Commission and by an official representative of the office.

(4) The office sends the record of results, and the pertinent attachments showing the determined voting results, to the Commission members and to the BMU. At the BMU's request, other authorities are sent the sections of the record of results covering the agenda items for which they were invited to meetings. Such authorities may forward such excerpts, after the record of results has been approved by the Commission (Art. 14 (3)), to authorised experts they are consulting, to applicants and entities lodging objections, and to participants in a supervisory procedure if they are affected by the results of relevant deliberation.

(1) The Commission reaches its resolutions by a majority of votes of appointed members. In exceptional cases, a resolution can be brought about by way of circulation; if a member expressly objects to use of that procedure, it shall be considered to have failed. The Commission must then reach a resolution at its next meeting.

(2) For recommendations relative to the site or design for a nuclear installation, as well as to commissioning of such an installation, a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes of appointed members is required.

(3) All members have the same voting rights, and all bear joint responsibility for the Commission's resolutions. Members who are outvoted have the right to have their dissenting opinions recorded in the record of results or in publication of recommendations and opinions.

As of 31 March of each year, the chairperson prepares a written report of the Commission's activities during the past calendar year. In this task, he/she is supported by the office. The annual report of activities is to be approved by the Commission. Once approved, a report on activities is made available to the public.

(1) In agreement with the Commission, the BMU determines the remuneration for activities of members of the Commission, of committees and of working groups and of consulted authorised experts.

(2) Such remuneration comprises a professional fee, a compensation for travel costs and a compensation for meetings. Expenditures made in special cases may be reimbursed.

These statutes shall enter into force on 22 December 1998. They supplant the statutes of the Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) and of the Commission on Radiological Protection (SSK) in the version of 29 January 1990 (Federal Gazette (BAnz.) p. 891).

The Statutes of the RSK as PDF. [39 KB]

Topics of consultations are usually completed with recommendations or statements that will be published on this website under Statements/Recommendations/Reports. The following list [93 KB] includes main topics of consultations of the RSK and its Committees. This list [93 KB] is updated at irregular intervals. In addition to this list [93 KB] , other topics are also subject of consultations of the RSK and its committees.