Program

Program Overview

The main mission of the NUSAFE program is nuclear safety. NUSAFE provides research for the benefit of society and focuses on the safe management of radioactive wastes, the safety of nuclear reactors in Europe and beyond, as well as effects of ionizing radiation. NUSAFE is carried out by three research centers of the Helmholtz Association (KIT, HZDR, FZJ) as an essential contribution to the joint German project on energy transition ("Energiewende"). While still being firmly embedded in the international research community, it addresses the specific German situation: phase out of nuclear energy production and the special requirements of the German site selection process with an in-depth comparison of different disposal concepts for high level waste.

Opting out of electricity production from nuclear power must not imply giving up the appropriate competences in nuclear technology in Germany. The competent assessment of nuclear plants and facilities, which will continue to be operated around Germany, and future international developments need reactor safety research. Also the prolonged interim storage of high active waste in surface facilities, decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and the future final disposal of nuclear waste, will keep society and thus also research busy for decades to come. Consequently, these competences continue to be required in the areas of reactor safety, decommissioning, prolonged interim storage and future final disposal of radioactive waste, radiation protection and crisis management.

Therefore, education and training of highly qualified scientists is indispensable. Only in this way the necessary competence can be preserved and developed, which will be needed also for nuclear facility operators, licensing and regulatory authorities and expert organizations in future.

The Program NUSAFE within the research field Helmholtz Energy will continue in its two topics to study scientific and technical aspects of the safety of nuclear waste management and of nuclear reactors. This work constitutes provident research in the interest of society and, hence, must be preserved for a long time to come.