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Short abstract:

Siting and decommissioning nuclear power plants are transformative socioecological processes. This paper explores the history of siting and decommissioning practices through the lenses of two complementary concepts: emplacement and displacement.

Long abstract:

What happens to a nuclear power plant when it becomes obsolete? Nuclear decommissioning is the ensemble of those complex and lengthy operations that allow the safe management and disposal of shut down nuclear facilities. Contrary to the myth of containment, nuclear facilities are porous because they establish osmotic relations and exchanges with the surrounding environment. Land occupation, water sources for reactor cooling and controlled effluent discharges, waste management on site and transportation off site, roads, river dams, cooling towers: these are just a few examples of how nuclear site operations transform spaces through time. In addition, the installation of nuclear sites brings deep socioeconomic transformations associated with the development of new services, different cultural and professional identities, and new sensorial experiences of the natural and the built environment. In one word, we can say that nuclear siting is a form of place making, and therefore of meaning making. This is clearly visible at the decommissioning stages, when the status of nuclear power plants shifts from “being the place” to “being out of place.” Drawing on anthropological, historical, and geographical approaches, this paper uses the complementary concepts of "emplacement" and "displacement" to advance a more holistic understanding of the socioecological entanglements of siting and decommissioning projects. In doing so, the analysis sheds light on the necessity to consider the whole costs of nuclear power and to escape the "containment" trap (focusing only on reactor safety) when discussing the future of nuclear energy as a possible solution to carbon emissions.