Looking back on safeND 2021: BASE research symposium
The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) invited participants to the first safeND research symposium on the safety of nuclear waste management from 10 to 12 November 2021.

The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management invited participants to the first safeND research symposium from 10 to 12 November 2021. safeND was conceived to provide a forum for scientists from a range of disciplines to present and discuss their research findings related to nuclear waste management
The symposium addressed the full spectrum of nuclear waste disposal research. It examined both fundamental and application-oriented current research results and projects on the following topics:
- Decommissioning of nuclear facilities
- Interim storage of radioactive waste
- Final disposal of high-level and low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste
- Site selection for a repository
- Public participation processes in nuclear safety and disposal projects
- Safety culture and communication in nuclear waste management
- Socio-technical and legal aspects of nuclear waste management
The focus was on intra- and interdisciplinary discussions.
Target group
The interdisciplinary symposium addressed a whole range of subjects from technical and natural sciences, as well as the humanities and social sciences. It was designed to engage both national and international scientists, with a particular focus on encouraging participation from young scientists.
Scientific Committee
The research symposium safeND was supported by a scientific committee comprised of the following members:
- Prof. Jens Birkholzer (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
- Prof. Anja Hentschel (University of Darmstadt, Germany)
- Dr. Wilhelm Hund (Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE; Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal), Germany)
- Prof. Sascha Gentes (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany)
- Dr. Karena Kalmbach (Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands)
- Prof. Patrizia Nanz (Bundesamt für die Sicherheit der nuklearen Entsorgung (BASE; Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management), Germany)
- Prof. Barbara Reichert (University of Bonn, Germany)
- Prof. Claudia Ritzi (University of Trier, Germany)
- Dr. Florence-Nathalie Sentuc (Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS), Germany)
- Dr. Kastriot Spahiu Chalmers (University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden)
- Dr. Holger Völzke (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM; Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing), Germany)
Venue
The research symposium was designed as a combination of online and in-person event. The venue was the WECC (Westhafen Event & Convention Center) in Berlin.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding the content or the organisation of the event, please feel free to contact us via email at symposium@base.bund.de
Stand: 2021.05.26