<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Drawing on the field of nuclear semiotics, this article critically discusses the classic problem of marking the location of a deep geological repository to communicate – in the distant future – its presence and potential threats to intruders. The article is divided into two parts. The first part reviews some site-marking solutions that have been proposed in the nearly 40 years of nuclear semiotics’ existence. These solutions are analyzed through the lens of semiotics of space and memory, highlighting different ideas about the purposes of site-marking, ranging from the idea of communicating a warning message to that of transmitting a memory. The second part addresses these strategies of memory transmission by examining some recent “speculative experiments” that use art to convey information about nuclear repositories to future generations. This part of the article examines artistic proposals submitted to a competition organized by ANDRA (the French Agency for Nuclear Waste).</p>
</abstract>

Drawing on the field of nuclear semiotics, this article critically discusses the classic problem of marking the location of a deep geological repository to communicate – in the distant future – its presence and potential threats to intruders. The article is divided into two parts. The first part reviews some site-marking solutions that have been proposed in the nearly 40 years of nuclear semiotics’ existence. These solutions are analyzed through the lens of semiotics of space and memory, highlighting different ideas about the purposes of site-marking, ranging from the idea of communicating a warning message to that of transmitting a memory. The second part addresses these strategies of memory transmission by examining some recent “speculative experiments” that use art to convey information about nuclear repositories to future generations. This part of the article examines artistic proposals submitted to a competition organized by ANDRA (the French Agency for Nuclear Waste).

How to remember a place to forget? The semiotic design of deep geological nuclear repositories, from long-term communication to memory transmission

Department of Philosophy and Communication Studies

Linguistic Frontiers

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Drawing on the field of nuclear semiotics, this article critically discusses the classic problem of marking the location of a deep geological repository to...

How to remember a place to forget? The semiotic design of deep geological nuclear repositories, from long-term communication to memory transmission

Publié en ligne: 30 déc. 2022

Pages: 22 - 36

Reçu: 01 juil. 2022

Accepté: 01 nov. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2022-0026

Mots clés
nuclear semiotics, nuclear waste, design of nuclear repositories, cultural memory transmission, art and memory

© 2022 Francesco Mazzucchelli et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to remember a place to forget? The semiotic design of deep geological nuclear repositories, from long-term communication to memory transmission

Publié en ligne: 30 déc. 2022

Pages: 22 - 36

Reçu: 01 juil. 2022

Accepté: 01 nov. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2022-0026

Mots clésnuclear semiotics, nuclear waste, design of nuclear repositories, cultural memory transmission, art and memory

© 2022 Francesco Mazzucchelli et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
nuclear semiotics, nuclear waste, design of nuclear repositories, cultural memory transmission, art and memory