Atomic priesthood, nuclear semiotics and Finland

In the margins of thinking about the future of nuclear waste management

Authors

• Petri Paju Turun yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33355/tw.122884

Abstract

In the field of nuclear waste management, there has long been a debate about whether they should warn future generations against the locations of nuclear waste repositories (or not), and how to design warnings that remain effective for extensive periods. One early answer to these questions was nuclear semiotics and establishing an atomic (or nuclear) priesthood to preserve knowledge about the dangers of nuclear waste. Using various published sources and conducting a selection of interviews, this study examined whether the ideas of atomic semiotics and its inventor Thomas Sebeok were transported to Finland, how they were received here and whether they had any effect. Semiotician Thomas Sebeok presented his recent research on nuclear themes in Finland in 1981 already. His ideas did not provoke any reactions or further work in here, however. Researchers in nuclear waste management considered them less relevant at the time. In 1986, Heikki Niini summed up his future-oriented thinking about the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel based on geology, and in his scenarios, there was no need for warnings against final disposal sites. Later, Michael Madsen's film Into Eternity re-introduced the thoughts of nuclear semiotics in Finland from 2010 onwards. In the field of nuclear waste management in Finland, the ideas of nuclear semiotics remained in the margins until the present day. This limitation is worth knowing because within a few years Finland may become the first country in the world to start the final disposal of high-level nuclear waste.