Abstract
My paper zeroes in on the history of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands, a concrete dome US servicemen constructed in 1977 to contain the debris generated by the 43 nuclear tests performed between 1946 and 1958. Poured into an opening created by one of the explosions, the so-called “concrete coffin” contained and sealed away over 110,000 cubic yards of highly radioactive soil and debris that made the site more dangerous than Chernobyl. Yet, the application of concrete in nuclear cleanup efforts also exposed the limits of the medium–since the half life of plutonium is 24,000 years, concrete as we know it will ultimately fail to protect the region and its people. The paper considers humanities approaches to materiality, its scientific and cultural definition, testing, and dissemination. It also shows that concrete’s utopian reputation as a medium of modernity, permanence, and safety is fundamentally flawed. Particularly in the context of coastal cities and infrastructures surrounded by water, concrete exposes the necessity to think in relation to human, environmental, and material ecosystems. As governments continue to center concrete in conversations about nuclear waste cleanup, green building, and environmental justice, it is important to chart the broader history of our ideological commitment to the material.
Presenters
Vyta PivoAssistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Miami, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Civic, Political, and Community Studies
KEYWORDS
Concrete, Sustainability, Technology, Imperialism, Materiality, Nuclear testing
