The geological storage of nuclear waste: an anti-time capsule

With waste produced by nuclear industry, we are facing new kinds of problems, both institutional and technical, because of the danger they represent for the next thousand years, or even million years in the case of some radionuclides. Today, one solution has been suggested: to bury them in deep geological repositories. In France, they are being experimented in situ in an underground laboratory site in Bure (Lorraine), the future site of a repository. Like time capsules, nuclear waste should be disposed in clay in order to travel through time. But contrary to these capsules, they are never meant to be unearthed but rather forever forgotten. Based on fieldwork, this article highlights the paradox of a project which, to ensure waste does not turn into a poisonous reminder of our time, is actually aiming to preserve the memory of its existence. (authors)