Approaches and methods of Nuclear Cultural Heritage and their applicability in the context of the site selection process

Approaches and methods of Nuclear Cultural Heritage and their applicability in the context of the site selection process

In 2011, the German Bundestag decided to phase out nuclear energy. In the future, this will not only reduce specialist knowledge, but also social awareness and memory in dealing with this high-risk technology.

Due to the progressive dismantling of nuclear facilities, places reminiscent of Germany's nuclear age will also be missing. However, it can be assumed that such places of remembrance are important,

for example, for the continuing awareness of the risks of nuclear energy and the radioactive waste generated by it. If there are no obvious sites of remembrance, how can a nuclear cultural heritage be created or preserved?

And what significance does such a heritage have on current processes such as the site selection process of a repository for high-level radioactive waste?

This is where the nuclear cultural heritage research project comes in, which combines questions of cultural remembrance with the concrete challenges of finding a location for high-level radioactive waste in Germany.

Against this background, the following three questions will guide the research project: 1) How can a German nuclear cultural heritage contribute to the safety of nuclear waste disposal?

2) What role do national, regional and local nuclear cultures and identities as well as cultures of remembrance play in this and how can a German nuclear cultural heritage be structured against this background?

3) Where, how and by whom is a nuclear cultural heritage already being implemented in Germany?

One aim of the research project is to illustrate the concept of nuclear cultural heritage on the basis of the German context. Secondly, it will be worked out which aspects of Nuclear Cultural Heritage

in the site selection process for a repository for high-level radioactive waste and where the limits of the concept lie. As a concrete achievement, a mapping of the nuclear heritage in Germany will be created:

A systematic reappraisal of places and institutions already in existence or in the process of being built. As a further achievement, factsheets are developed that present the information contained in the mapping in an easily accessible way

and thus enable a transfer of knowledge between the BASE and the public.