The sub-project “Nuclear-hydraulic pioneers” relied on research in the archives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and EURATOM as well as in the national archives in the United States, France and Sweden. The sub-project developed the notion of ‘ambi-nuclearity’ as a theoretical tool in the analysis of nuclear-hydraulic engineering communities and their expertise, delineating the close historical affinities between older thermal hydraulic traditions and nuclear technology.
The sub-project on the Soviet Union’s nuclear waters relied on archival research in Russia and Ukraine (until the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War) as well as in Lithuania, Estonia, and Germany. Themes covered included the historical geography of nuclear energy in the Soviet Union, the phenomenon of “energy complexes”, and 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” made use archival sources from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. Several Rhine-related nuclear themes were researched, including the basic phenomenon of nuclearized river basins, the problem of drinking water supply near Rhine-based nuclear facilities, the history of nuclear-thermal pollution in the Rhine and the Aare, and the question of (un)sustainability of riverine nuclear power in an age of global warming.
The sub-project on “Japan’s atomic coastscapes” used Japanese- and English-language sources to trace the complex history of coastal nuclear power in Japan. Key themes included the relationship between nuclear power and fisheries, the threat of flooding of coastal nuclear sites and the influence of the Fukushima disaster on the Chinese anti-nuclear movement.
The sub-project on the “Nuclear Baltic” explored the coasts of the Baltic Sea as a transnational nuclear territory, outlining how multiple countries made use of the same brackish cooling water for large-scale nuclear facilities while also examining the historical evolution of environmental effects of such plants.
Finally, the synthetic sub-project explored the links between the different subprojects while developing a global history of nuclear energy through the lens of water.
