The burial of radioactive waste in deep geological repositories has gradually imposed itself since the 1980s in various countries. Considered more stable, safe, and responsible than storage above ground, this solution is seen as a way of keeping the waste out of human reach, and of freeing oneself of the obligation to monitor repositories. However, it soon became clear that the idea of relying on the relative stability of deep geological repositories for the safe disposal of nuclear waste to remove it from the ‘all too human’ risks associated with history’s turbulences, has produced new uncertainties, and raised new questions, given the multi-millennial time scales involved. This article presents a study of the strategies adopted by the actors in charge of radioactive waste management in the face of the temporal constraints imposed by the length of their radioactive life. More specifically, it is intended to question the representations of temporality that allow the designers of these projects to assume their responsibilities by transmitting information and warnings towards to an extremely distant future, to recipients who are not easily representable and for whom they already have a responsibility even though they do not yet exist.
Confronting the uncertainties associated with long-time scales: analysis of the modes of preservation of memory of radioactive waste burial sites
Résumé
en
The burial of radioactive waste in deep geological repositories has gradually imposed itself since the 1980s in various countries. Considered more stable, safe, and responsible than storage above ground, this solution is seen as a way of keeping the waste out of human reach, and of freeing oneself of the obligation to monitor repositories. However, it soon became clear that the idea of relying on the relative stability of deep geological repositories for the safe disposal of nuclear waste to remove it from the ‘all too human’ risks associated with history’s turbulences, has produced new uncertainties, and raised new questions, given the multi-millennial time scales involved. This article presents a study of the strategies adopted by the actors in charge of radioactive waste management in the face of the temporal constraints imposed by the length of their radioactive life. More specifically, it is intended to question the representations of temporality that allow the designers of these projects to assume their responsibilities by transmitting information and warnings towards to an extremely distant future, to recipients who are not easily representable and for whom they already have a responsibility even though they do not yet exist.
1
MSHE -
Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de l'Environnement Claude Nicolas Ledoux (UAR 3124)
( 2228 )
- 32-36, rue Mégevand 25030 BESANCON CEDEX
- France
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UAR3124 / USR3124 ( 441569 )
;
Worldwide Waste: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
(ISSN : 2399-7117)
Revue non référencée dans Sherpa-Romeo
Volume
6
Numéro
1
Page/Identifiant
1
Domaine(s)
Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Etudes de l'environnement
Sciences de l'environnement/Environnement et Société
Sciences de l'environnement/Ingénierie de l'environnement
Financement
MSHE Ledoux, appel à projets « Soutien à la recherche en SHS en Franche-Comté » 2019
Fédération des MSH de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté, appel à projets « Transmission, travail, pouvoirs » 2019
MSHE Ledoux, appel à projets « Soutien à la recherche en SHS en Franche-Comté » 2019
Fédération des MSH de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté, appel à projets « Transmission, travail, pouvoirs » 2019
Mots-clés
en
Radioactive waste, Waste management, Long-time scale, Transmission, Memory, France
Simon Calla, Christian Guinchard, Alexandre Moine, Nanta Novello-Paglianti, Laure Nuninger, et al.. Confronting the uncertainties associated with long-time scales: analysis of the modes of preservation of memory of radioactive waste burial sites. Worldwide Waste: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2023, 6 (1), pp.1. ⟨10.5334/wwwj.75⟩. ⟨halshs-03943531⟩