Nuclear Waste Weeks

October/November 2017

• Nuclear Waste Event, 6 October – report by Ankie Petersen

• Film Screening, Trace Evidence, 20 October

• Nuclear Waste Excursion Hades (Mol) and exhibition Perpetual Uncertainty (Hasselt), 27 October – report by Anna Volkmar

• Film screening and first meeting Deep Time and Nuclear Waste study group, 3 November

The Nuclear Waste Weeks are a four-part series of events, jointly organised by the EHC, VU, Anna Volkmar (PhD candidate at LUCAS, Leiden University) and Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou (PhD candidate at CRAL, EHESS), taking place during the months of October and November 2017 in Amsterdam. Nuclear waste is one of the major unsolved challenges of our time, raising an array of questions, from the possibilities and politics of storage and disposal, over deep time, to toxic sovereignty. In this series, we will grapple with the environmental, aesthetico-political and ethical dilemmas that emerge from the out-of-scale temporalities induced by radioactive matter that haunt our own era but also countless generations to come.

The programme includes an afternoon of lectures at the VU by philosopher Jantine Schröder (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Mol) and art historian Sven Lütticken (VU). Jantine Schröder, who is affiliated with the Belgian Research Center in Mol, will reflect on the idea of a final closure in the context of geological disposal sites, using the Belgian debate on nuclear waste as an example. Sven Lütticken is a lecturer in art history and criticism at the VU and will talk about artistic responses to the multifaceted problem of nuclear waste.

To see how this plays out in practice, we also organise a one day trip to Belgium, where we shall visit the HADES underground laboratory for high-level radioactive waste storage in Mol and the exhibition Perpetual Uncertainty, curated by Ele Carpenter (Goldsmiths) at the Z33 House for Contemporary Art in Hasselt. The group is limited to 17 participants. The places will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis (you can subscribe via email to a.volkmar at hum.leidenuniv.nl). Details on transportation and costs will follow through e-mail.

These events are accompanied by two film screenings and a study group meeting in which Phd students, early career researchers, and ResMA students are invited to share their research around the topics of nuclear waste and deep time.

Please consult the schedule for dates and location, and click on the links for more information on the events:

Nuclear Waste Event
Friday 6 October 2017, 15:00-17:00hrs
Main Building, room 14A-33
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Read a report on the event by Ankie Petersen.

Speakers:

Jantine Schröder (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN), Geological disposal of radioactive waste as a socio-enviro-technical challenge

Sven Lütticken (VU), Ambivalent Responses: The Avant-Garde in the Nuclear Regime

Read more: abstracts and speaker biographies.

Film Screening: Trace Evidence
Friday 20 October 2017, 17:00 hrs
Auditorium, O2 Building, Boelelaan 1108 (next to ACTA and VUMC)
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

The “Trace Evidence” video trilogy explores the geological, meteorological, and hydrological appearance of nuclear evidence secreted within the molecular arrangement of matter. Read more.

Nuclear Waste Excursion: Hades and Perpetual Uncertainty
Friday 27 October 2017, whole day
Belgium

Read a report on the excursion by Anna Volkmar.

Excursion to Belgium, including a guided tour at the EIG EURIDICE and the URL HADES in Mol and a guided visit to the art exhibition Perpetual Uncertainty at the Z33 House for Contemporary Art in Hasselt.

To see how the nuclear waste problem plays out in practice, we also organise a one-day trip to Belgium, where we shall visit the HADES underground laboratory for high-level radioactive waste storage in Mol and the exhibition Perpetual Uncertainty, curated by Ele Carpenter (Goldsmiths) at the Z33 House for Contemporary Art in Hasselt. The group is limited to 17 participants. The places will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis (you can subscribe via email to a.volkmar at hum.leidenuniv.nl). Details on transportation and costs will follow through e-mail.

Short film screening (Somewhere / Nuclear Waste)
First meeting study group Deep Time and Nuclear Waste
Friday 3 November 2017, 15:00-17:00hrs
Main Building, Bellevue 1H-50
The Bellevue Building is a low-rise building just behind the main building (next to Doppio’s coffee)
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

This workshop aims to bring together PhD students from various disciplines who share a common interest in discussions on deep time and/or nuclear waste. It will consist of two parts: the screening of two short films at 15:00 and a 1+ hour discussion of selected reading material that will be distributed beforehand, starting at 16:00. The readings are supposed to stimulate discussion and offer an entry point into our respective research projects. The meeting will be informal and, if there is a shared interest, the first in a series to discuss not only texts, but also offer a platform to present one’s own research. Read more.