Most, if not all, national programmes for radioactive waste management pledge their overall commitment to safety or – in the case of radioactive waste disposal – to long-term safety. Therefore, it may be somewhat surprising to find that the term “safety” is hardly defined in these programs. The same holds for some of the core international guidance literature on the deep geological repository (DGR) “safety case” concept. With respect to stakeholder concern over the safety of geological disposal, it seems, however, advisable to seek common ground in the understanding of the idea of “safety”. Hotzel and Schröder (2018) reviewed the most relevant international guidance literature for explicitly or implicitly provided definitions of “safety” in the context of radioactive waste disposal. Based on this study – and on the finding that a practical, useful-for-all definition of “safety” is not provided in the scanned literature – they developed a tentative dictionary-style definition of “safety” that is suitable for everyday use in the DGR context.
In the current contribution I embed, expand and update the 2018 study at both ends: As an enhanced introduction to the 2018 study, I lay out a basic concept of “sound” glossary definitions, namely glossary definitions being both practical and correct (and what this means). The thesis is that sound glossary definitions can facilitate mutual understanding between different stakeholder groups.
As an update to the actual proposal for the definition of “safety” from the Hotzel and Schröder (2018) paper, that was presented and discussed at the Waste Management Conference 2018, I review the latest international guidance literature and the stakeholder concerns raised at the 2018 conference in order to present a revised definition. As a seed of discussion, it may help to eventually expose possible mismatches in the base assumptions of safety experts and other stakeholders and thereby support meaningful communication.
Die meisten nationalen Programme für den Umgang
mit radioaktiven Abfällen, wenn nicht gar alle, verpflichten
sich umfassend zur Sicherheit oder – im Fall der Endlagerung
radioaktiver Abfälle – zur Langzeitsicherheit. Es mag
daher etwas überraschen, dass der Begriff
Im vorliegenden Beitrag ordne ich die Studie von 2018 ein und erweitere und aktualisiere sie in zwei Richtungen: Als erweiterte Einführung in die Studie von 2018 stelle ich ein grundlegendes Konzept von „klaren“ Glossardefinitionen vor, nämlich dass diese sowohl zweckmäßig als auch korrekt sein sollten (und was damit gemeint ist). Die These lautet, dass klare Glossardefinitionen das gegenseitige Verständnis zwischen den verschiedenen Interessengruppen erleichtern können.
In einer Aktualisierung des Definitionsvorschlags für