EURAD Information & Discussion Session on IDKM

Management of knowledge, information and data can be a challenge in radioactive waste disposal and decommissioning. Planning, construction, operation and closure of a repository involves large volumes of information over an extended duration. At the same time information, data and knowledge about repositories must be accessible and understandable by numerous generations. Managing knowledge, archiving records and preserving information for a timescale across many generations is a common task for all countries.

The NEA’s Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) established the Working Party on Information, Data and Knowledge Management (WP-IDKM) to examine the management of information, data and knowledge for/in radioactive waste disposal programmes. Since 2019, the working party has brought together experts from 26 organisations representing 11 NEA member countries and the European Union.

On EURAD’s Information & Discussion Session (the IDS) offers an opportunity to provide an overview of the WP-IDKM’s predecessor initiatives, present working areas, existing and planned deliverables, future activity plans and dissemination events.

The IDS presentation topics include:

Predecessor NEA initiatives and their respective deliverables:

Preservation of Records, Knowledge and Memory (RK&M) Across Generations (RK&M Initiative)
Radioactive Waste Repository Metadata Management (RepMet)
Expert Group on Waste Inventorying and Reporting (EGIRM)

Overview of WP-IDKM, members, expert groups, working areas, and planned deliverables

EURAD Domain Insight 7.2.2 on Information, Data and Knowledge Management (IDKM)

Expert Group on Knowledge Management (EGKM)

Introduction of the challenges and opportunities of managing knowledge to support radioactive waste management
Overview of the KM Guidance document under preparation and how it relates to other normative/standard references

Expert Group on Archiving (EGAR) – Set of Essential Records (SER)

Introduction of the SER concept
Overview of organisational SER implementation examples

WP-IDKM international cooperation, planned future activities, conferences and dissemination events

Summary of the information session and opening of discussion session

The IDS will likely appeal to RWM experts interested in how effective IDKM can benefit radioactive waste management and disposal. This includes technical staff in implementing organisations charged with the digitisation of safety cases, data and information management, archiving, knowledge management and stakeholder communication. In addition to RWMOs, it could be of interest to policy makers, regulators, IT professionals, national archivists, community groups and social scientists involved in communicating information over extended timescales.

EURAD’s IDS will consist of approximately one hour for presentations from WP-IDKM, and approximately one-and-a-half-hour session for answering audience questions.

Presenters

József I. Fekete (PURAM), Ulrich Noseck (GRS), Vincent Maugis (Andra)

Expert panel for Q&A

Alyssa Clark Chardon (LANL), Alexander Carter (Nuclear Waste Services), Chris Russell Camphouse (Sandia), Stephan Hotzel (BASE), Takeshi Ebashi (NUMO), and additional experts subject to WP-IDKM discretion.

Practical information

This information session will be organised using MS Teams. All registrants will receive a MS Teams link a few days prior to this session.