Challenges in communicating the future of high-level radioactive waste disposal: What future are we talking about?

Abstract

Of the three main time horizons specified in the German Repository Site Selection Act (the year 2031, 500 years after closure and one million years), the current public discourse largely neglects the “medium term”. However, many important choices will have to be made during this period. The article discusses different conceptions of time that could help to improve public understanding of the time horizons for high-level radioactive waste disposal and the decisions that still lie ahead.

Keywords

• conceptions of time
• future studies
• high-level radioactive waste disposal
• science and art