The NUSAFE program

Germany phased out nuclear power generation in 2023. The radioactive waste must be disposed safely. A decision on a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste will not be made until the second half of the century. Until then, this waste must be stored temporarily. At the same time, the future energy mix in Europe will include nuclear energy in the long term.

The mission of the Helmholtz program “Nuclear Waste Management, Safety, and Radiation Research (NUSAFE)” is safety. Together with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), scientists at Jülich are developing solutions in a coordinated research program.

Jülich’s contributions focus on aspects of the safe disposal of radioactive waste and the safe operation of nuclear facilities in other (European) countries. In addition, the NUSAFE program supports the German government’s efforts toward sustainable competence development in nuclear safety.

The program is divided into two topics.

The “Nuclear Waste Management” topic involves application-oriented fundamental research for the safe disposal of radioactive waste. Key areas include final repository research with a focus on long-term safety aspects, disposal concepts for special radioactive waste, and international nuclear material safeguards.

In the “Reactor Safety” topic, background knowledge and computational programs necessary to enhance the safety of nuclear reactors are developed. The scope of expertise encompasses both the analysis of severe accident sequences and the further development of safety concepts for nuclear facilities, as well as the safety assessment of innovative reactor designs, including small modular reactors and gas-cooled concepts.