Constructing Memory (Construire la mémoire)

Organised by the NEA with the support of Andra, the French Radioactive Waste Management Agency, "Constructing Memory – An International Conference and Debate on the Preservation of Records, Knowledge and Memory (RK&M) of Radioactive Waste across Generations" brought together nearly 200 attendees from 17 countries in Verdun, France in September 2014.

The scope of the international conference was to present and discuss experiences, projects and prospects related to the preservation of RK&M both in radioactive waste management and in other domains, such as archiving, cultural heritage, archaeology, communication, semiotics and the arts. The conference, consisting in equal parts of plenary sessions and group discussions, ensured that a wide range of perspectives were presented and provided the space for cross-fertilisation across the several domains and sensibilities that were represented.

The international conference was structured along three timescales used within the RK&M initiative of the NEA: short term (several decades and likely more than 100 years), medium term (several centuries after repository closure, extending up to 1 000 years) and long term (potentially starting at around 1 000 years after closure). Opening and closing lectures provided useful context and summarised discussions, thus completing the programme of the event.

Please see below for the presentations delivered at the conference. You can also use the menu on the left-hand side to select the session you are interested in and access the relevant presentations.

Proceedings

Conference Opening

Constructing memory in the digital era – Experience, expectations and insights from the field of preservation of cultural heritage
Prof. Marinos Ioannides, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus

Knowledge for the future – Time eats information
Emeritus Prof. Klaus Kornwachs, Brandenburg University of Technology, Germany

Preservation of Records, Knowledge & Memory (RK&M) across generations – An OECD Nuclear Energy Agency initiative
Claudio Pescatore, RK&M co-ordinator, NEA

Session 1 – Short term

Period until repository closure

Preparing for the future – The findings of the RK&M initiative concerning the short term
Jantine Schröder, RK&M and SCK/CEN, Belgium

COVRA's RK&M provisions to cover the storage of radioactive waste at HABOG for the next 100 years or more
Hans Codée, COVRA, Netherlands

RK&M preservation for a recently closed repository – The study case of Andra's Centre de La Manche
Florence Espiet-Subert, Andra, France

Session 2 – Medium term

Period of continued oversight after repository closure

The concept of oversight, its connection to memory keeping and its relevance for the medium term – The findings of the RK&M initiative
Stephan Hotzel, RK&M and GRS, Germany

The UK National Nuclear Archive initiative and the role of its different stakeholders
Simon Tucker, NDA, United Kingdom

Researching the Great Hedge of India: RK&M lessons on what to do and what to avoid for memory preservation
Roy Moxham, author of The Great Hedge of India, United Kingdom

Archival and museum curatorship challenges for RK&M preservation
Christophe Jacobs, Limonade & Co, France

Session 3 – Short and medium term

Discussion groups

A summary of the discussions will be included in the conference proceedings (forthcoming).

Session 4 – Long term

Potential period with no oversight

The findings of the RK&M initiative regarding the long term
Anne Claudel, RK&M and Nagra, Switzerland

Could the landscape preserve traces of a deep underground nuclear waste repository over a very long time? A study of the French case
Prof. Dominique Harmand, University of Lorraine, France

Semiotics and the long term: Research avenues and current results
Prof. Eléni Mitropoulou, University of Limoges, France

Archaeology of the future
Profs. Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg, Linnaeus University, Sweden

Session 5 – Long term

Discussion groups

Report on group discussions
Fabrice Boissier, Andra, France

Conference Closure

Conference rapporteur's report
Emeritus Prof. Erik Van Hove, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Media coverage