Collaborative Imagination, Community Futures, and Nuclear Siting Practices
How might living next door to nuclear waste shape a community’s future? The United States and other countries around the world are seeking long-term solutions for the spent fuel produced by nuclear power plants. In the process, neighboring communities are being asked to consider whether they are willing to host repositories for storing nuclear waste, and to participate in deliberations about their design, safety, and environmental impact.
What would it mean, day-to-day and for decades or centuries, to share one’s home with nuclear waste? Can communities collectively envision the possibilities it might create, or the risks?
Through science fiction, visual art, and essays by experts in fields ranging from history and public policy to architecture and geology, Our Radioactive Neighbors provides resources to help communities imagine their futures and make informed choices about nuclear siting. The book provides insights into the complicated history of nuclear waste management in the U.S, how other countries have approached nuclear waste siting, and the role of nuclear power in our energy system and economy. It also introduces Indigenous ideas about justice, stewardship, and human connections with the land that offer new ways of thinking about our relationships with long-lived nuclear materials.
Our Radioactive Neighbors is free to download, read, and share. It was supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under Award Number DE-NE0009331.
Stories by: Andrew Dana Hudson, Justina Ireland, Carter Meland, Sarena Ulibarri
Essays by: Nicole Cox, Myrriah Gómez, Nafeesa Irshad, Krzysztof Janas, Christopher F. Jones, Allison M. Macfarlane, Alycia de Mesa, Clark A. Miller, Jennifer Richter, Ian H. Rowlands
Artist: Dwayne Manuel
Editors: Clark A. Miller, Ruth Wylie, and Joey Eschrich
Having trouble getting the book on your Kindle device or app? Visit this page for instructions on sending ebook files and other documents to your Kindle.
The print-on-demand version of this book is available to order through the website Lulu. We are making the book available at cost; Arizona State University does not make a profit from sales on Lulu, and your price covers production, shipping, any applicable taxes, and Lulu’s platform fees.
Illustrations
The art for Our Radioactive Neighbors was created by Dwayne Manuel. Click on the images below to view full-size, higher-resolution versions.
Facilitation Guide
A facilitation guide for using the fiction stories in Our Radioactive Neighbors with students, reading groups, and community groups was created by educator and writer Annie Holub and designer Phillip Garcia. The guide is free to download, read, and share.
A version of the facilitation guide with a simplified design and more common typefaces, to make the file more accessible and easily editable, is available here.