Upcoming
2025
17–19 September 2025
Conference panel, Berlin, Germany
The Nuclear Natures team organized a paper session and a visual workshop on the theme of Nuclear Renaissance at safeND 2025: The third BASE research symposium in Berlin. A blog post is available here.
21 January 2025
Text presentation
Sergiu Novac presented a text in the TEMA T department colloquium (STRIPE).
15 January 2025
Nuclear Natures project meeting
Summing up the activities of the past two years, planning ahead for future meetings, activities, and publications, and wishing Marko Marila a smooth transition into his new position.
14 January 2025
Text presentation
Marko Marila presented a text in the TEMA T department colloquium (STRIPE).
5 December 2024
Marviken Nuclear Power Plant visit
The Nuclear Natures team, together with invited guests, visited the former Marviken Nuclear Power Plant next to the city of Norrköping, Sweden. A blog post on the visit is available here.
4 December 2024
Prof. Ulrike Felt visits the Nuclear Natures Team and gives a talk at TEMA T
Prof. Ulrike Felt of the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Vienna, visited TEMA T, where she met with PhD students of the department, exchanged ideas with the Nuclear Natures team, and gave a talk in the department’s Higher Seminar entitled “Is it possible to be a “non-nuclear” nation in a re-nuclearizing world?”
29 November 2024
Talk at a jubilee symposium, Turku, Finland
Marko Marila gave a talk at the University of Turku with the title “Suomalaiset uraaniperintöyhteisöt” (Finnish uranium heritage communities).
26 November 2024
60% Seminar of Axel Sievers
Axel Sievers had his 60% seminar for his doctoral dissertation, with the preliminary title: “OnkaloTM: Not Wasting the Final Repository for High Level Nuclear Waste”.
29 October 2024
Nuclear Natures project meeting at Wadströmskan Villan in Norrköping, Sweden.
10 September 2024–21 October 2024
Visiting researchers, Linköping, Sweden
In autumn 2024 we had quite a few researchers visiting us at Linköping University: Carlos Gonzalvo (University of Girona), Martin Edström (University of Fribourg), Jeff Benjamin (Independent researcher and artist), and Veera Ojala (University of Turku).
7–11 October 2024
Autumn school and conference, Norrköping, Sweden
The Nuclear Natures team convened a PhD autumn school and following conference. We invited scholars of any discipline within the humanities, social sciences and the arts, and scholars at any career stage who are interested in exploring the theme of Nuclear Natures in an intimate and interdisciplinary setting. More information here!
10 October 2024
Conference presentation, Norrköping, Sweden
Marko Marila gave a paper presentation with the title “Mining for Hope” as part of the Nuclear Natures conference.
9–11 October 2024
Art installation, Norrköping, Sweden
Marko Marila collaborated with artist and archaeologist Jeff Benjamin for an art exhibit. The title of the exhibit was “Gentle Reminders”, and it was exhibited as part of the Nuclear Natures conference. For more information, click here.
27 September 2024
Public lecture, Bergen, Norway
Marko Marila gave a talk about the heritages of Finnish anti-nuclear and anti-uranium mining activism at the University of Bergen and University Museum of Bergen. The event can be viewed on YouTube.
11 September 2024
Online symposium presentation
“Elements of hope in the anti-uranium mining rock art of Pessi Manner” was the title of a talk by Marko Marila at the “Nuclear Futures – Art, Speculation, Matter” online symposium.
10 September 2024
Lecture, Linköping, Sweden
Marko Marila gave a lecture titled “Nuclear waste: Temporal planning challenges for 100.000 years” as part of bachelor-level teaching in urban planning at Linköping University.
16-19 July 2024
Conference panel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sergiu Novac and Hannah Klaubert co-hosted a panel on “The Times of Nuclear Energy Cultures” at the EASST-4S 2024 conference.
10-14 June 2024
Aarhus University Summer School for Environmental Humanities and Media
Rebecca Öhnfeldt participated in this summer school that had a focus on transdisciplinary methods.
7-8 June 2024
Reconstruction of an environmental artwork and public event, Askola, Finland
Marko Marila reconstructed one of Finnish artist Pessi Manner’s partially destroyed anti-uranium mining artwork from 2006. The artwork was re-revealed as part of a public event. Around 40 people attended the event.
7 June 2024
Cute ecologies online symposium
Rebecca Öhnfeldt participated in a panel titled “Toxic Love” where she talked about the ‘Forsmark seals’. The event was hosted by AWW-STRUCK and the full program can be seen here.
6 June 2024
Public lecture/seminar
Hannah Klaubert spoke in a lecture series on contemporary nuclear power discourses at the “Center for Applied Ecological Thinking” (CApE) at Copenhagen University, Denmark. Information on the event series “Humanistiske perspektiver på atomkraft” here.
22 May 2024
Public teaching demonstration (online in Finnish)
Marko Marila gave a public teaching demonstration for the title of Docent (Associate Professor) of Heritage Archaeology at the University of Turku. The title of the lecture was “Ydinvoimavastaisuuden arkeologiaa: kansalaisten liikehdinnästä tulevaisuuden perinnöksi” (Archaeology or antinuclear activism: From social movements to future heritage).
21 May 2024
Text presentation
Rebecca Öhnfeldt presented her thesis PM at the STRIPE seminar at Linköping University.
9 May 2024
Webinar presentation
Marko Marila gave a talk about anti-uranium mining rock art in the Eco- And Bioart Lab webinar series. The title of the talk, which can be found on YouTube, was “From Bedrock to Deadrock: The Arts of Anti-Uranium Activism”.
19 March 2024
Seminar talk, University of Copenhagen
Marko Marila presented “From bedrock to deadrock: The heritages and eco-aesthetics of Finnish uranium” at the Centre for Sustainable Futures (CSF).
8 March 2024
Conference session and presentation, Turku, Finland
Marko Marila and Anna Storm organized a session on nuclear heritage/archaeologies at the Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group meeting. Marko gave a talk titled “The rocky legacies of Finnish uranium with special reference to Pessi Manner’s anti-uranium rock art”, and Anna acted as the session discussant.
7 March 2024
Seminar presentation, Linköping, Sweden
Hannah Klaubert presented work-in-progess in the seminar series “COMPASS – A Research Hub on Knowledge Circulation” at the Department of Culture and Society (IKOS) at Linköping University, Sweden.
15 February 2024
Seminar presentation, Helsinki, Finland
Marko Marila talked about the archaeology of anti-nuclear and anti-uranium social movements at the Finnish Heritage Agency.
12th February 2024
Writing day, Linköping University
Once more, the Nuclear Natures team got together at Wadstömska Villan in Norrköping to discuss and develop collective and individual writing projects.
2023
29th November 2023
Writing day, Linköping University
The Nuclear Natures team and other collegues working on nuclear topics got together in Wadströmska Villan in Norrköping to discuss each other’s writing projects and give feedback on work-in-progress.
20 November 2023
Lecture, Linköping University
Sergiu Novac, Marko Marila and Hannah Klaubert presented on interdisciplinary research in the nuclear realm in a PhD course co-hosted by the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning (IBL) and Tema T.
2-3 November 2023
Conference participation, Copenhagen, Denmark
In early November, Hannah Klaubert participated in the final conference of the Danish Environmental Humanities Justice Network, titled “Transformative Connections” and organized by Aalborg University, Aarhus University and Roskilde University, Denmark.
18-20 October 2023
Team Retreat, Ängelsberg, Sweden
The whole Nuclear Natures team got together to plan individual and collective future activities and to work on shared projects.
25 September-9 October 2023
Research visit, Oslo, Norway.
Marko Marila visited the University of Oslo and met the members of the Relics of Nature research project.
29 October 2023
Seminar lecture, Oslo, Norway.
While visiting the Institute for Archeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, Marko gave a talk titled “Heritages and eco-aesthetics of Finnish Uranium” in the department’s Friday seminar series.
13-17 September 2023
Performance lectures, Kuopio, Finland.
Marko Marila gave performance lectures at the ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival. The lectures were part of YELLOWCAKE, a participatory performance by Tea Andreoletti.
6-7 September 2023
Symposium presentation, Oslo, Norway.
Hannah Klaubert participated in a symposium titled “Transdisciplinary in the Environmental Humanities” at the Oslo School of Environmental Humanities (OSEH) at the University of Oslo.
25 August 2023
Conference presentations, Bern, Switzerland.
Marko Marila, Rebecca Öhnfeldt, Axel Sievers and Anna Storm presented at the European Society for Environmental History conference in Bern.
3-4 July 2023
More fieldwork in Finland.
Marko Marila visited four more anti-uranium and anti-nuclear rock carvings in southern Finland.
26-30 June 2023
Fieldwork in Finland.
Marko Marila and Axel Sievers conducted archival work in Helsinki and visited the legacy uranium mine of Paukkajanvaara and two anti-uranium rock art sites in eastern Finland.
15-16 June 2023
Workshop participation in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Marko Marila, Anna Storm and Hannah Klaubert participated in the workshop “Theorizing the Nuclear Age in International Relations: Imaginaries, Intersections and Enduring Legacies” organized by Rens van Munster at the Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen.
25 May 2023
Invited presentation at KTH, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anna Storm, Axel Sievers and Marko Marila presented on “Humanities and social science research on nuclear power at Tema T, Linköping University” at the research workshop Techno-scientific promises of nuclear energy in the past and present: Finnish and Swedish perspectives.
11-19 May 2023
Fieldwork in Northern Germany.
In May, Sergiu Novac went on exploratory fieldwork visiting various nuclear power plants and surrounding fishing communities in the Hamburg area in Northern Germany.
8-11 May 2023
Visit to the Barsebäck NPP and public event at Malmö Museums, Sweden.
Together with a group of international scholars and nuclear professionals, the Nuclear Natures project team visited the Barsebäck nuclear power plant and participated in a public event at Malmö Museums on the topic of atomic heritage. Further information can be found here (LiU-internal link).
Photos: Anna Storm, Hannah Klaubert.
19-21 April 2023
Visit to the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant, Sweden.
Together with colleagues from the Nuclear Waters project at KTH in Stockholm, the Nuclear Natures team visited the power plant, the nuclear waste storage site under construction, as well as the biotest lake close to the power plant. This field trip was also an opportunity for team discussions and reflections on the ongoing research.
Photos: Hannah Klaubert.
18 April 2023
Seminar presentation, Linköping University, Sweden.
Hannah Klaubert, Sergiu Novac and Marko Marila presented their work at the STRIPE seminar, Tema Technology and Social change, Linköping University.
29 March 2023
Workshop participation in Brussels, Belgium.
Hannah Klaubert participated in a workshop on “The Art and Science of Imagining Energy Futures” organized by the Ecosens project.
22 March 2023
Nuclear Natures project meeting in Linköping, Sweden.
15 March 2023
Invited presentation at Relics of Nature webinar.
Marko Marila presented the Nuclear Natures project in the “Relics of Nature – An Archaeology of Natural Heritage in the High North” webinar series, University of Oslo.
17 February 2023
Nuclear Natures project meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
6-9 February 2023
Fieldwork, Kävlinge municipal archives, Sweden.
Anna Storm spent three days in Kävlinge municipal archives, among other things collecting materials on expressions of nuclear natures at and around Barsebäck, Ringhals, Oskarshamn and Forsmark.
18 January 2023
Nuclear Natures project meeting in Linköping, Sweden 2022.
2022
28 November – 1 December 2022
Visit to Onkalo/Olkiluoto, Rauma, Finland.
Marko Marila, Axel Sievers and Anna Storm visited the peninsula of Olkiluoto, Finland, which houses not only the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant with two working reactors and a third reactor soon-to-be finished, along with an underground storage of low and medium-level nuclear waste, but also the world’s first construction site for a permanent geological repository for spent nuclear fuel, Onkalo. Together with colleagues from KTH, Sweden, and University of Turku, Finland, they also visited the ongoing construction the so-called Encapsulation Plant, located directly above the Onkalo repository, as well as the nearby town of Rauma with a large paper mill.
25 October 2022
Public lecture, Linköping Cathedral, Linköping, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the public lecture “Människans geologiska spår” in the series Livsviktigt.
17 September 2022
Public lecture, Östergötlands museum, Linköping, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the public lecture “Människans geologiska spår” as part of the event Humanistdygnet.
13 September 2022
Seminar presentation, Linköping University, Sweden.
Axel Sievers presented an article draft at the STRIPE seminar, Tema Technology and social change, Linköping University, on the topic of patterns of nuclear waste circulation and its shaping of the landscape at the Sellafield nuclear complex in the UK.
4-8 July 2022
Conference presentation, Bristol, UK.
Anna Storm was roundtable panelist at the European Society for Environmental History Conference, Bristol, UK, [hybrid setting] on the topic “’Undo impossible’: How historians can contribute to issues of wicked wastes”. With Jacob Hamblin, Verena Winiwarter, Heike Weber & Martin Schmid.
4-8 July 2022
Conference presentation, Bristol, UK.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Atomic fish: Sublime and non-sublime nuclear nature imaginaries” at the European Society for Environmental History Conference, Bristol, UK, [hybrid setting].
17 June 2022
Public lecture, EY Doberman, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the lecture “Human geological traces” at Södra teatern, Stockholm.
16-20 May 2022
Visit to Sellafield Nuclear Complex, Cumbria, UK.
The decommissioning of the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria, UK, involves a constant struggle of separating ecologies from radioactive material. Legacy ponds and silos involve waste materials which have been actively reshaped by its long and sometimes careless storage process. Together with a group of international scholars, heritage practitioners and nuclear industry representatives, Axel Sievers and Anna Storm followed how the decommissioning project uses an array of different subcontractors and strategies to shape waste into a form suitable for the storage methods employed at the Sellafield site itself, as well as at the nearby Drigg low level waste repository – both in the outskirts of the scenic Lake Disctrict.
11 May 2022
Visit to Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory and the Canister Laboratory, Oskarshamn, Sweden.
At Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, practical investigations regarding the KBS-3 method of storing spent nuclear fuel are carried out. Axel Sivers and Anna Storm went down into the tunnels reaching 460 meters below the ground to see the different test sites. They also visited the nearby Canister Laboratory where copper canisters, another critical component of the KBS-3 method, are developed and tested.
7 April 2022
Public lecture, Uppsala art museum, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the public lecture ”Post-industriella ärr och sovjetiska industriarv” in the series Fokus Promzona, in connection to an exhibition with works by the artist Pavel Otdelnov.
6 April 2022
Public lecture, Senioruniversitetet, Uppsala, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the public lecture “Kärnkraft som utopi och dystopi” in the series Teknik i mänsklighetens tjänst. 16-18 March 2022: Conference presentation, Uppsala, Sweden Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Eternal care: Nuclear waste as toxic legacy and future fantasy” at Teknik- och vetenskapshistoriska dagar [History of Science and Technology conference], Uppsala, Sweden, [hybrid setting].
16-18 March 2022
Conference presentation, Uppsala, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Atomic fish: Sublime and non-sublime nuclear nature imaginaries” at Teknik- och vetenskapshistoriska dagar [History of Science and Technology conference], Uppsala, Sweden, [hybrid setting].
8 March 2022
Public lecture, Strimman, Linköping University, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the public lecture ”Människans geologiska spår” in the series Strimman, at Linköping University. The lecture was recorded and is accessible here.
11 February 2022
Visit to Östhammar municipal archive.
Rebecca Öhnfeldt visited Östhammar’s municipal archive to continue studying protocols and other material filed by the local safety commission.
13-14 February 2022
Visit to the site for the planned final repository for spent nuclear fuel, Forsmark, Sweden. Forsmark is a small village located a couple of hours north of Stockholm. The layout of the village is centered around the church and the mansion, both dating back to the 18th century and the then dominating iron industry. The contrast between, on the one hand, the rural-industrial town with its 64 permanent inhabitants, symmetrical and – in today’s eye’s, picturesque – spatial planning and, on the other hand, several large-scale nuclear facilities is palpable. In the area one finds Sweden’s biggest nuclear power plant as well as an underground storage for short-lived radioactive waste. At the visit, Rebecca Öhnfeldt, Axel Sievers and Anna Storm though went primarily to see the site for a third facility to be constructed, namely Sweden’s geological storage for the most highly radioactive waste, the spent nuclear fuel.
2021
6 December 2021
Visit to Östhammar municipal archive.
Rebecca Öhnfeldt visited Östhammar’s municipal archive (close to the Forsmark nuclear plant two hours north of Stockholm) in order to study some of the material that the local safety commission (information here) has archived over the years since it was established in the early 1980’s.
1-3 December 2021
Conference presentation, Oslo, Norway.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Atomic fish: Sublime and non-sublime nuclear nature imaginaries” at the 8th Norwegian Conference on the History of Science, Oslo, Norway (keynote address).
30 August – 3 September 2021
Conference presentation, Vienna, Austria.
Anna Storm gave the invited commentary “Geographies, temporalities, environment, and remembrance: Reflections on deindustrialization” on the three-sessions panel “Remembering Toxic Pasts? Memory, Deindustrialisation and the Environment” at the 4th ELHN Conference [hybrid setting].
3-6 August 2021
Conference presentation, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “When we have left the nuclear territories: Nonhuman entanglements with radioactive remains” at Streams: Transformative Environmental Humanities, Stockholm, Sweden, [turned into an online event due to Covid-19].
25-31 July 2021
Conference presentation, Prague, Czech Republic.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Atomic fish: Sublime and non-sublime nuclear nature imaginaries” at the 26th International Congress of History of Science and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, [turned into a online event due to Covid-19].
5-7 May 2021
Conference presentation, Munich, Germany.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Eternal care: Nuclear waste as toxic legacy and future fantasy” at Hazardous Hope: Exploring New Ways of Narrating Toxic Bodies and Landscapes, at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Munich, Germany, [turned into an online event due to Covid-19]. With Tatiana Kasperski.
15-17 March 2021
Conference presentation, online.
Anna Storm gave the conference presentation “Eternal care: Nuclear waste as toxic legacy and future fantasy” at The material life of time: The 2nd international Temporal Belongings conference, [online event]. With Tatiana Kasperski.
Nuclear Natures 