The management of long‐lived high‐level waste, such as minor actinides (MA) and long‐lived fission products (LLFP), is one of the most important issues to be solved for the utilization of the nuclear fission energy. The transmutation project of the radioactive wastes based on an accelerator driven sub‐critical (ADS) system is very attractive, since it could reduce the risk of long‐lived radioactivity and also increase the capacity of the disposal site. In the development of the ADS project networks of researchers between different fields and between different countries are crucial, since there are many scientific and technical issues, which should be studied. The activities based on these networks are discussed. © 2004 American Institute of Physics