Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE)

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) performs federal regulatory, licensing and supervisory tasks in the areas of final disposal, interim storage, handling and transport of high-level radioactive waste. BASE supports and advises the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection on issues relating to nuclear waste management and nuclear safety. It conducts and coordinates research in its subject areas.

In accordance with its legal mandate (StandAG §38), BASE permanently stores analogue and digital information on the interim storage and final disposal of radioactive waste. This secured and processed information shall be available beyond the time of the nuclear waste repository closure and for at least 500 years thereafter. Thus, BASE faces a challenge: it must maintain an institutional awareness of the importance of the systematically compiled documents over such time periods. Incrementally, it will become the ‘memory of nuclear waste management’ in Germany. Nuclear waste management organisations provide BASE with data and documents relating to interim storage, all steps in the selection process for a nuclear waste repository site including public participation, the construction, operation and decommissioning of the repository and relating to the stored waste. The types of information range from standard office documents and formats to, e.g. geological data surveys, technical design documents, mine survey data and radiological observation data.

BASE expects to archive at two separate locations in Germany.

Competences and priorities in the area of long-term preservation

The BASE's long-term documentation department deals with both analogue and digital preservation. A long-term archive is currently being set up and certification in accordance with DIN 31644 ‘Criteria for trustworthy digital long-term archives’ is being sought. BASE also conducts research in the context of long-term archiving, e.g. on the durability of storage media. Other key topics are the preservation of knowledge over the particularly long periods of nuclear waste disposal and despite changes in language, as well as maintaining social awareness of nuclear waste repositories.

Activities in nestor

nestor coordination group
nestor-AG Research Data

Contact

Dr. Detlev Möller
Head of Department long-term documentation
Department F 5 long-term documentation
Research and International Cooperation
Wegelystr. 8
10623 Berlin
detlev.moeller@base.bund.de
Tel.: +49 (0)30 18 4321 -6500

Jens Ludwig
Desk Officer
Department F 5 long-term documentation
Research and International Cooperation
Wegelystr. 8
10623 Berlin
jens.ludwig@base.bund.de
Tel.: +49 (0)30 18 4321 -6508