TOWARDS A SYSTEMIC STRATEGY FOR RK&M PRESERVATION

Fictional example 1

Compliance activities

This fictional example is steered by the assumption of a directive national regulatory framework for RK&M preservation, requiring the use of archives, land use controls and the installation of visible markers by law. The RK&M preservation mechanisms implemented for this repository focused on ensuring that the archiving process and associated physical record store were ready and that land use controls were in force. For the design and installation of a marker system, external experts were hired by the implementing agency and were completed under contract.

Best practice activities

The RK&M preservation strategy development was driven by the implementing agency, as an additional task for the largely technical staff. The implementing agency developed a KIF because the local government requested it. It was stored in a paper and a digital version at the city hall. The implementing agency put a lot of time and effort into the development of the SER, also because a divergence was discovered rather late in the process between the internal archiving standards and those of the national archive. This caused some budgetary issues and even some turmoil in the regional press. The concerns about the lack of transparency related to the records turned into concerns related to long-term health effects. Action groups pleaded for the retrieval of the waste and the closure of the repository. Following these events, the regulator and the government organised information dissemination activities in the region and the local government organised a multidisciplinary process to revise the KIF (involving the facility implementer, communication specialists and representatives of a newly established local stakeholder group). In its new form, the KIF was distributed to the nearest schools and libraries, which also received some additional information materials on radioactivity and RWM in general from the implementing agency. The preservation of the installed markers was taken up by the national guild of masons, which developed an interest in repository markers worldwide.

Supporting activities

The implementing agency recognised the importance of an active knowledge management process for the short term within the organisation. A commitment was made to participate in an international Community of Practice on this issue. After the local schools received the KIF, information sessions were organised by some teachers for parents. Some parents showed an interest in site visits and contacted former staff of the implementing agency. The land controls, however, prevented such visits.

Fictional example 2

Compliance activities

The national regulatory framework for this disposal project only prescribed the “making of provisions for long-term record preservation”. “The preservation of knowledge and memory about the facility” was, however, requested by the host community, which had become engaged in the disposal project through the siting process. The implementing agency complied with the law by means of compiling a SER (supported by international collaboration) and worked together with the national and local archives. Furthermore, an ongoing review and implementation of any laws and binding international agreements was instituted and regularly refreshed through a peer review process.

Best practice activities

The implementing agency made a commitment to organise and maintain an interdisciplinary process for RK&M strategy development, including researchers from the natural, material, and social sciences and humanities. This was done in full collaboration with the host community, who among others decided upon the prioritisation of RK&M mechanisms. The host community was also engaged in the preparation, maintenance and distribution of a KIF for the facility.