NEA Expert Group on Archiving for Radioactive Waste Management Activities (EGAR) meeting, 31 May - 1 June 2021

Effective and insightful employment of information, data and knowledge management is an increasingly important issue for NEA member country radioactive waste management and decommissioning programmes.

The NEA Expert Group on Archiving for Radioactive Waste Management Activities (EGAR) was established recently to address the needs of member country radioactive waste management organisations for both shorter term, operational period archiving and longer term archiving needs, tools and processes. The group held its first meeting on 31 May - 1 June 2021 to discuss its main priorities, activities and programme of work.

Archiving is considered as an act of sending a record to an archive or place of deposit in accordance with relevant national legislation or other considerations, as well as a means of preserving digital records to ensure continued accessibility. In this context, EGAR supports radioactive waste management organisations in their efforts and research in archiving; recommending feasible, resource-saving standards, methods and tools; and considering the different needs for archiving during the various phases of geological repositories.

Considering the long timescales for deep geological repositories, the group explores methods to archive information in a manner that ensures accessibility and comprehensibility for both current and future generations.

As such, discussions at the group’s first plenary meeting included exchanges on the Set of Essential Records (SER), a collection of the most important records for waste disposal selected for permanent preservation during the lifetime of the repository. SER provides sufficient information for both current and future generations to provide an adequate understanding of the repository system and its performance.

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