Concepts for partitioning and transmutation (P&T) argue that it is possible to reduce significantly the amount of high-level radioactive waste and the half-life of the radionuclides within the waste. Under what circumstances and concepts would it be possible to reduce the safety timeline for nuclear disposal if these technical approaches would be implemented?
This session invites contributions which discuss questions related to P&T and their possible advantages and disadvantages for deep geological disposal strategies.

A sudden focus on national energy independency following intensifying climate change mitigation efforts, geopolitical conflicts and reported breakthroughs in nuclear fusion seem to point in the direction of a nuclear renaissance. The state and corporate interest in so-called small modular reactors (SMRs) is reaching new peaks, and old promises of nuclear technology are being revived. Nuclear power is routinely portrayed as the source of limitless amounts of clean energy and as the stable source of carbon-free electricity. The rhetorical move from speaking about ‘renewable energy’ to ‘fossil-free energy’ is increasingly evident.

Amidst this prospective renaissance, the task of managing the radioactive leftovers from nuclear energy production becomes more pronounced. Whilst the immediate storage of highly radioactive matter has been in place for decades, the question of long-term storage has caused intense political debates and numerous cancelled construction projects. Not least are debates around how best to communicate memory of these nuclear waste leftovers thousands of years into the future.

In this session we gather research engaging critically with practices of this seeming nuclear renaissance. We invite papers engaging with topics including, but not limited to, the following:
- Critical readings of nuclear renaissance practices in historical and/or national contexts.
- Theorizations of nuclear energy cultures relating to nuclear matter, agencies, and powers.
- Archival and memory research into atomic heritage.
- Engagements with the institutional management and/or legitimization of nuclear power and/or weapons programs.
- Deep future and future studies engagements with the nuclear.

Harnessing fusion energy released during fusion of light atomic nuclei into a heavier nucleus is alluring for energy production in the future. Fusion energy can be regarded as a source of abundant, clean and safe energy offering a solution to meet future energy demands. In recent years, fusion energy has, therefore, gained significant traction among private investors and governments, part of them even venturing towards technical realization of fusion power plants around the world.
While nuclear fusion has been hailed as the “energy of the future” for decades – from a skeptical perspective it will remain a perpetual promise, since many technical challenges persist and other critical conceptual aspects come into view in light of progressing plans for fusion power generation.
Session T6c will describe and discuss the possibilities, risks and obstacles related to the use of fusion energy for power production.