For some people, nuclear energy seems to be the perfect solution for an inexpensive, carbon dioxide-free source of energy. However, it would only be inexpensive if worn down nuclear power reactors are used, which comes with great security risks, and when the costs of disposing nuclear waste, currently at the expense of the tax payers, are not taken into account. This radioactive waste will continue to give off dangerous radiation for millions of years, affecting future generations. Given that the large-scale testing of the atomic bomb in 1950 has left radioactive elements that could send strong, traceable chemical signals into our atmosphere for millennia, the start of the Anthropocene could be set to coincide with the start of the nuclear age.
Barrel for radioactive waste, Inv.-Nr.: 1983-428
Nika Korniyenko
Barrel for radioactive waste, Inv.-Nr.: 1983-428
Nika Korniyenko
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Permanent disposal of nuclear waste
Text and images by Nika Korniyenko
University of the Arts (UdK), Berlin
Radioactive waste 2014
Radioactive waste 2014
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
2514
2514
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Drawn by Nika Korniyenko , 2014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Artist’s comment:
It is no longer possible to ignore the environmental impact of human activity on our planet. I am especially concerned about radioactive waste since despite its surreal and unimaginable consequences, greed has encouraged skepticism and called scientific research into doubt. My story is shown through the eyes of mankind’s innocent co-inhabitants on Earth.
How to cite
Korniyenko, Nika. “Permanent Disposal of Nuclear Waste.” Environment & Society Portal, Multimedia Library, 2014. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/6631/.
The comic also appears in Alexandra Hamann, Reinhold Leinfelder, Helmuth Trischler, and Henning Wagenbreth, eds., Anthropozän – 30 Meilensteine auf dem Weg in ein neues Erdzeitalter. Eine Comic-Anthologie (Munich: Deutsches Museum, 2014).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
