ABSTRACT

Geological disposal has been proposed as the solution for managing the most radioactive nuclear wastes. These wastes stay hazardous for periods better measured in geological rather than human time. This challenges the capacity of science to accurately predict the future evolution and safety of geological disposal facilities. Thus nuclear waste management organisations, such as the Finnish Posiva, utilise a broad range of historical and cultural evidence and discursive tactics to support their scientific argumentation for the long-term safety of geological disposal. Posiva, for instance, makes its safety case by anchoring its disposal project in broader international scientific settings and engineering practices; by giving the abstract disposal concept form and tangible through mundane objects and spaces and in so doing presenting geological disposal as an extension of the everyday; and finally by juxtaposing the underground and the aboveground to depict the underground as more predictable and knowable, essentially as ‘safer than.’ By invoking and imagining geological disposal through the familiar, Posiva negotiates the limits of scientific knowledge, and undermines the nuclearity of geological disposal to make its case for the implementability, manageability and safety of geological disposal and, crucially, to present geological disposal as the only available option for long-term nuclear waste management.

摘要

提议将地质处置作为管理放射性最高的核废料的解决方案。这些废物在地质时期比人类时期能更好地衡量其危害性。这挑战了科学准确预测地质处置设施的未来发展和安全性的能力。因此，诸如芬兰Posiva之类的核废料管理组织利用了广泛的历史和文化证据以及话语策略来支持其对地质处置的长期安全性的科学论证。例如，波西瓦（Posiva）通过将其处置项目锚定在更广泛的国际科学环境和工程实践中来制定其安全案例；每天的延长; 最后，通过将地下与地面并置，将地下描述为更可预测，更容易理解，本质上说比“更安全”。通过熟悉的方式调用和想象地质处置，Posiva协商了科学知识的局限性，破坏了地质处置的核能力，从而证明了地质处置的可实施性，可管理性和安全性，最重要的是提出了唯一的地质处置方法。长期核废料管理的可用选项。