Periodic Reporting for period 3 - NUCLEARWATERS (Putting Water at the Centre of Nuclear Energy History)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-05-01 bis 2022-10-31
In the sub-project on the Soviet Union’s nuclear waters, four journal articles are being drafted. The first explores what we call the historical geography of nuclear energy in the Soviet Union. The second deals with the phenomenon of nuclear-water “complexes”. The third unveils the previously unknown case of a planned Estonian nuclear power plant. The fourth studies two Soviet nuclear projects that were initiated but then cancelled in the context of environmental concerns related to water.
The sub-project on the “Nuclear Rhine” has produced a general survey of the Rhine river basin’s nuclear history. Empirical material has been consulted in archives in Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and Vienna. A first journal article is available in draft form, targeting the problem of drinking water supply in the nuclearized Rhine river basin. Two further articles are in the planning stage, one of which will discuss the phenomenon of nuclearized river basins at a theoretical level, and the other specifically detailing the history of nuclear-thermal pollution in the Rhine river basin.
The sub-project on “Japan’s atomic coastscapes” is so far the least developed. This is according to the original plan, which specifies that the work on this sub-project will be gradually scaled up only during the second half of the project’s life-time. There are so far no significant achievements, though several areas of interest and possible data collections have been identified.
The sub-project on the “Nuclear Baltic” has produced one journal article, discussing the phenomenon of “atomic fish”. Other work in the sub-projects aims to produce a synthetic mapping of the Baltic Sea’s transnational nuclear history.
Finally, the synthetic sub-project will in the end result in a book. However, the sub-project has also produced an important journal article that is currently being reviewed in revised form. In addition, initial work on a further journal article is being started up; it will subsequently form the starting point for an edited collection produced as part of the project.