Identification of the microbial community in salt sumps of the Asse II pit, a former salt mine used as a deep geological repository for intermediate and low level radioactive waste. For respective safety assessment (SA) studies it is one important issue to clarify how microbial activities in rock salt may influence the degradation of organic substances in LLW and ILW waste containers, how they influence the corrosion of waste containers, how they may alter barrier material, and how they may influence the transport behavior of radionuclides in case of incidents.