Nuclear humour back in 1981
Back in Paris for a few days in my parents house, I found a book I bought long ago.
Before I was born people used to have an incredible sense of humour. They were soooo convinced nuclear was no danger, so they issued this fancy book with spaghetti-western font:
Roughly, it explains how nuclear is cool because it kills less people than coal exploitation does :
Than we come to the design part of it : the nuclear waste disposal (click to enlarge) :
So basically these are simpler tankers UK nuclear services just throw in the middle of the ocean, where no one will be able to locate them precisely ever. And the technique they use to “secure” the tankers is quite hi-tech you will agree :
And british nuclear waste managment services have been practicing this fancy sport since nuclear waste exist on these particularly exciting spots :
So I guess I must add these precious points on this map of the immaculate oceans, how sad :
If the milk is sour, we will have no choice but to drink it :
And we cant ever get the truth about all this stuff, even if they know about it…
Who is “we” and who is “they” in the previous sentence? Guess.
But now comes real serious criticism, the one I can do as I am a qualified graphic designer :
The book, printed in 1981 and only borrowed three times from the RCA librairy is completely falling apart today (2008)… This is very worrying… How can a group of engineers responsible for the management of nuclear waste design and mass produce so fragile books? This is scary… This is absolutely scandalous! This binding is extremely dangerous! What if somebody reads this book in a bit careless fashion?!! What if someone drops the book? Everything could happen! Imagine the worst!
The whole nuclear thing is badly binded… Can we trust people who cant design a several centuries traditional knowledge (book binding), design nuclear waste tankers that are supposed to last until radioactive matter becomes harmless (at least 10′000 years)…
Now, you have only a few days left, if you are in London, to run see this exellent exhibition “NUCLEAR: Art & Radioactivity” by the Art Catalyst, Chris Oakley and Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou until the 30th of November 2008 at the Nicholls & Clarke Building, Spitalfields, London E1 (Liverpool street station). It is about what I’ve been talking so far, but not from 1981 standpoint of view, it is a serious update, it is free, it is spooky, strong, strange, where is art, where is radioactivity, are we safe?
Last year, high court judge Jeremy Sullivan caused an apparent setback to the government’s nuclear energy ambitions by ruling that public consultation into the creation of a new fleet of nuclear power stations was “misleading” and “seriously flawed”. Soon after these events, Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou started a residency at The British Atomic Nuclear Group as part of a public perceptions programme. Hollington & Kyprianou’s work in Nuclear is the outcome from this residency, particularly their work within B.A.N.G’s wide-ranging public consultation into the possibility of siting a nuclear power facility in the heart of London. Their new installation, ‘The Nightwatchman’ traces changing perceptions of the nuclear power industry over its 50 year history through a single immersive narrative environment, blending fact and fiction into a darkly humorous journey through hard-nosed PR and spin to a logical hysteria.
Chris Oakley’s new film ‘Half-life’ looks at the histories of Harwell, birthplace of the UK nuclear industry, and the new development of fusion energy technology at the Culham facility in Oxfordshire. Oakley gained the cooperation of both these organisations in his research and filming. The film examines nuclear science research through a historical and cultural filter. With the recent widespread acceptance of the reality of climate change driven by carbon dioxide emissions, the work explores the realities and myths surrounding the nuclear sciences.
Enjoy !
