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Human Interference Task Force

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Warning_sign W05:
„Warning: radioactive material or ionizing radiation“

Nuclear Semiotics is a discipline of semiotics which researches the possibilities to warn posterity about the dangers of radioactive waste

The discipline was created in 1981 when a team of engineers, anthropologists, nuclear physicists, behavior scientists and others was convened on behalf of the US Department of Energy and Bechtel Corp. The goal of this workgroup („Human Interference Task Force“) was to find means to reduce the likelihood of future human unintentionally intruding on radioactive waste isolation system.

In more detail, the task force shall research ways to prevent access to the deep geological repository of Yucca Mountain.

Entrance toYucca Mountain

Problem Statement

Due to the detonation of atomic or fusion bombs in a supposable war as well as the usage of nuclear power plants in times of peace an unnatural high amount of radioactive material is produced. This material will continue being a threat to health and even life for thousands of years. Consequently, the nuclear technology forces the responsible ones to assure a secure terminal storage of such materials for an unusual long time period.

Unfortunately there is no method at disposition which could continuously provide the necessary knowledge over thousands of years. The culture of earlier centuries becomes incomprehensible when it is not translated into new languages every few generation. National institutions do not exist longer than a couple of hundred years. Even religions are not older than a few millennia and hand down not scientific knowledge but myths.

Plutonium

Furthermore, the length of storage is disputed between specialists. In Germany the conclusion of a work group was that the nuclear waste must be separated from the biosphere up to one million years which equals to about 30'000 human generations. Earlier assumptions selected 10'000 years which seems to be too short in respect of the half-life of certain radioactive isotopes (e.g. Plutonium-239 at 24'000 yrs).

However, the written historical tradition of humanity is only in existence for about 5000 years. Potential warnings in cuneiform script could be interpreted by some specialists, such in the writing of the Indus Valley civilization are already illegible at this point in time.

Solution Proposals

Three parts of a communication should be conveyed to posterity:

  1. that it is a message at all
  2. that in a certain location dangerous material is stored
  3. information about the type of the dangerous substances

In order to find a solution on how to convey the message, the "Zeitschrift für Semiotik" (Tübingen, Germany) in 1982 and 1983 created a poll about the communication possibilities for a duration of 10'000 years. The question of this poll was:

Question: »How can it made possible to inform our succession within the next 10'000 years about the storage locations and dangers of radioactive waste?«

Answers

Thomas Sebeok

The linguist Thomas Sebeok was member of the Bechtel workgroup. He seized earlier suggestions made by Alvin Weinberg and Arsen Darnay and proposed the creation of an »atomic priesthood«, a panel of experts where departures would be replaced in the way of a council through renominations. Similar to the [Catholic church]] - which has preserved and authorized its message over 2000 years - the »atomic priesthood« had to preserve the knowledge about locations and dangers of radioactive waste by creating rituals and myths. The priesthood would indicate no-go-areas and the consequences of nonobservance.

This approach contains a number of critical issues that let one doubt about its effectiveness:

  1. The more contingencies an »atomic priesthood« has to cope with the bigger gets its influence.
  2. The system of information relais favors the creation of hierarchies.
  3. Those who split the message in independent parts would be able to use it to discriminate certain kinds of addressees.
  4. The knowledge of a location of radioactive waste grants power. Humans are inclined to have power privileges, even information privileges.

Stanisław Lem

Polish science-fiction author Stanisław Lem proposes the creation of artificial satellites which will transmit information from the orbit to Earth for millennia. Furthermore, he proposes a biological coding of the DNA in a mathematical sense which would reproduce itself automatically. Practical, Information Plants which only grow near a terminal storage site shall inform about the dangers. The DNA of the so called »atomic flowers« shall contain the necessary data about the location and its content.

Here the question remains, who recognizes in 10'000 years the meaning of the atomic flowers and if it is worth to decode their DNA.

Francois Bastide and Paolo Fabbri

French authors Francois Bastide and Paolo Fabbri propose the breeding of so called radiation cats. Cats are domesticated since thousands of years and most certainly will be for the future. These radiation cats should change significantly in color when they get in contact with radioactive emissions and serve as living warning indicators. In order to transport the message, the cats should be braced in the collective awareness through fairy tales and myths. This can be reached through poetry, music and painting.

Vilmos Voigt

Vilmos Voigt from Loránd-Eötvös university (Budapest) proposes the installation of warning signs in the most important global languages in a concentric setup around the terminal storage location. After a certain timespan new signs with adapted translations should be installed, but the old signs shall not be removed. Newer signs are posted farther away from the location thus the warning is understandable at all time and a return into older languages is possible.

Emil Kowalski

Physicist Emil Kowalski from Baden, Switzerland proposes that terminal storage locations are constrcuted in such a way that future generations could reach them only with a high technical complexity. The probability of an unwanted breach becomes extremely small. Furthermore, cultures able to perform such excavations and drillings most certainly are able to detect radioactive material and are aware of its dangers.

Literature

  • Roland Posner (Hg.): Warnungen an die ferne Zukunft – Atommüll als Kommunikationsproblem. Raben-Verlag, München, ISBN 3922696651
  • Und in alle Ewigkeit. Kommunikation über 10.000 Jahre. Zeitschrift für Semiotik, Band 6, Heft 3, 1984
  • J. Kreusch und H. Hirsch: Sicherheitsprobleme der Endlagerung radioaktiver Abfälle in Salz. Gruppe Ökologie, Hannover 1984
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