Social science research

Source: BASE/BILDKRAFTWERK

Safety is a technical and scientific challenge in relation to the tasks of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal (BASE). However, the events and discussions of the past decades have shown that it is just as central to keep the population sufficiently informed and involved in the relevant processes.

Citizens want to be comprehensively involved at an early stage. The search for a repository site with the best possible safety is a task for society as a whole, and this is particularly true in this context. In addition to the technical and scientific tasks, BASE is therefore concerned with socio-scientific and socio-technical issues:

1. Public Participation

   Research on public participation serves to systematically reflect fundamental questions, methods and instruments of public participation and to concretise them for the tasks of the BASE.

2. Historical-social science research

   The relaunch of the site selection process cannot be understood without its historical dimension. It is necessary to analyse interactions between state actors and organised citizens in the past and present and to examine them with regard to their significance for today's site selection process.

3. Information management and long-term documentation
   Once a repository site has been found, knowledge about it and about the site selection process must be preserved for many generations to come. One research focus is therefore on technical and strategic questions concerning storage media and data formats, as well as mechanisms for international unification and standardisation of procedures and terminology.

4. Dealing with uncertainties, insecurities and lack of knowledge
   One of the research goals for the coming years is to develop a systematic approach to dealing with uncertainties, insecurities and missing knowledge.

5. Safety management, safety culture and human-organisational factors
   For BASE, maintaining and expanding its technical expertise in these areas is particularly relevant due to their central importance for nuclear safety.

Currently tendered research projects are published on E-Vergabe, the federal award platform.

The main topics of BASE research are detailed in the research agenda.

Ongoing research projects

You can find the ongoing research projects on social science on our research project page (in German only).

Completed research projects

The research projects already completed in the area of social social research are listed and briefly described on our research project page (in German only).