New TATuP issue “The future of radioactive waste disposal”

In the face of an unpredictable future, how can we plan and construct a repository for high-level nuclear waste that is supposed to safely store its contents for up to a million years? This question is at the heart of the current TATuP issue “The future of radioactive waste disposal: What are the developments and challenges after site selection?,” edited by Ulrich Smeddinck, Sophie Kuppler (both ITAS), and Anne Eckhardt (risicare GmbH).

Possibilities of dealing with the future

In the introduction, the editors take a closer look at the possibilities of dealing with the future, also in light of current crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change. In addition, they provide an overview of the status of site selection in Switzerland, Finland, and Germany. The research articles highlight, for example, the importance of the medium-term period of 500 years after closure of the repository or analyze the concept of “timeprints” in the waste disposal process. Other contributions discuss what kind of citizen participation can be considered appropriate and how intergenerational justice can best be addressed in the different phases of site selection.

Interview on deep geological disposal in Switzerland

In the TATuP interview, Tim Vietor talks about the future of deep geological disposal in Switzerland. The geologist is head of the Safety, Geology and Radioactive Materials division at Nagra, the Swiss National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, which in September 2022 proposed a repository site for radioactive waste in Switzerland.

Also in the current issue of TATuP: research articles on the ethical debate over the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems and on social consequences of digital technologies for small-scale farming, conference reports, book reviews, and news from the TA community. (19.12.2022)

Further links:

• Full issue (open access)