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In Germany radioactive waste with negligible heat generation, i.e. LLW and ILW, is planned to be disposed of in the Konrad repository. The construction and operation of this disposal mine necessitates quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) programmes focusing on the above‐ground and underground facilities as well as on the waste packages to be disposed of. The QA organization provides a division of this facility into three areas with different requirements on the measures to be taken. For classification of systems and companies the results of the safety assessment, in particular of the incident analysis, are used. The waste package QC, i.e. the fulfillment of waste acceptance requirements, is either to be performed by checking the waste producer’s documentation and carrying out random tests or by qualifying and subsequently inspecting the waste conditioning process.

Quality assurance (QA) with regard to structures, systems and components is also an important task during the design and operational phase of a repository for the disposal of radioactive waste. The first step is to evaluate the technical design on the basis of a comprehensive safety assessment. The results of this evaluation can then be used in order to classify structures, systems and components into different QA areas. Type and volume of the necessary documentation depend on the relevance of the structures, systems and components to safety. Describes the application of this general procedure including design changes and maintenance aspects during operation, for the planned Konrad waste repository in Germany.

Significant interest in Integrated Management Systems (IMS), as a key area within ISO-related Management System Standards (MSS) literature, has been evident from both academia and industry over the past three decades. This study aims to map the evolution and current state of IMS research and propose possible directions for future studies.

A comprehensive content and bibliometric analysis of 846 documents from the Scopus database across the period 1995 to 2023 was conducted. This included performance analysis to track publication trends and identify key contributors, and content analysis to specify dominant research methodologies and the MSS most commonly integrated. Furthermore, science mapping techniques—such as co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and bibliographic coupling—were utilized to outline the collaborative networks and the conceptual and intellectual structure of the field.

The study identifies three principal IMS research themes: the practical implementation of IMS, their role in promoting sustainability and social responsibility, and their impact on continuous performance improvement. It also highlights the field’s evolution and key research constituents—including influential works, prolific authors, leading academic institutions and countries, and top publishing journals. It further reveals that IMS research exhibits strong collaboration across authors and countries, and a rich methodological plurality, notably with a marked increase in empirical surveys in recent years. Additionally, it identifies the most frequently referenced MSS for integration, prominently featuring ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001/OHSAS 18001.

This study is original in its application of a dual analytical approach—bibliometric and content analysis—to provide a holistic overview of IMS research. It offers new insights into the integration of diverse MSS and proposes several promising paths for future research. Among the most prominent are standardizing IMS fundamental specifications, conducting more empirical research with advanced methods to evaluate the effects of MSS integration, providing practical support for organizations in IMS implementation through tailored methodologies and tools, and exploring the potential of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies to advance IMS practices.