Page 49 - Beyond Decommissioning

30 Beyond Decommissioning

Fig. 2.7 The Dales Brewery, Cambridge, United Kingdom, now converted into shops and
offices.
Photo by Laraia (2012).

decisions are possible in different countries or at different sites within a country, or at
different times. Is it possible to view a shutdown nuclear power plant (NPP) as a mon-
ument or memory site? Has our understanding of what is history and cultural heritage
enlarged to the point that we can include a physical structure whose meaning is so
controversial?
One simple answer is: yes, it has already happened. Many examples are given in
this book. Nuclear applications have been illustrated in museums all over the world;
and NPPs have been documented and studied from a cultural history standpoint.
However, there is more to say. For many people, nuclear energy conveys such
repulsive associations that they find it impossible to view nuclear energy as cultural
heritage. Nuclear power reminds them of accidents, perceived links to atomic bombs,
and unmanageable radioactive waste. For them, nuclear memories should be erased.
By contrast, cultural heritage is viewed as something nice and beautiful, economically
attractive, and a touristic target. Other antinuclear groups maintain that shutdown
nuclear plants should be conserved to remind mankind of past mistakes and tragedies.
Others yet might think that nuclear plants are too modern for cultural heritage. How
back in time should cultural heritage be meaningful? On the pronuclear side, some will
claim that nuclear power is the future, not history, and does not belong to cultural
heritage.
So, conflicting opinions are heard. At nuclear power sites, the buildings are valued
as workplaces. There, nuclear plants represent the hub of the community. This taken in
isolation cannot make cultural heritage either.