Between pride and burden: The dissonance between nuclear heritage and nuclear inherited situations in French nuclear culture

The question of nuclear heritage—a notion that carries both technical and cultural significance pointing to historical and scientific achievements in nuclear energy – is inseparable from the challenge of what some nuclear safety experts label nuclear “inherited situations”, where present-day actors must manage residues and infrastructures they did not create, often under conditions of significant uncertainty. Unlike heritage, which implies an active process of selection, preservation, and sometimes celebration, inherited situations are often unwanted legacies—burdens passed down through time, shaped by past decisions, technological limitations, and shifting regulatory landscapes. These situations demand not just technical solutions but also a moral reckoning with responsibility, accountability, and long-term care.

This tension is clearly visible in the case of irradiated graphite in France. Once a crucial component of the country’s first-generation nuclear reactors – birthed by a “pioneering era” of post WWII modernization and renewed national pride –, this same graphite has become low-level and friable nuclear residue containing long-lived elements and awaiting a disposal strategy that remains uncertain. Irradiated graphite is not simply a relic of the past—it is an unstable and evolving material, shaped by both its own radioactive decay and the changing standards of nuclear waste management.

Irradiated graphite is a residue that was never fully anticipated. In the early years of nuclear power, waste was often managed through ad-hoc, short-term solutions that did not account for the long temporalities of radioactive decay and related complexities. As a result, the problem of irradiated graphite is not just about its future final disposal—it is also about knowledge production. Some of the reactors containing graphite have been shut down for decades, and records of their exact conditions have been lost or degraded over time.

Our research, based on 17 interviews, archival work, and document analysis, seeks to unpack these questions by examining the perspectives of diverse actors involved in nuclear decommissioning in France. We have spoken with experts in nuclear safety, waste management, and robotics, as well as critical observers and citizen organizations. Through these conversations, a complex picture emerges: one in which nuclear waste is not merely a technical issue but a political and moral challenge.

This ethical dimension becomes even more pressing when we consider that irradiated graphite is only a small part of a much larger issue. Eventually, the entire nuclear infrastructure—reactors, fuel rods, cooling systems, and countless other components—will have to be transformed into waste. The problem of inherited nuclear situations is therefore not just about cleaning up the past; it is about shaping the future of the industry itself. How does the nuclear sector plan for a future in which its own material legacies must be carefully managed for centuries to come?

This research is conducted with Ulrike Felt as part of her ERC Advanced Grant Innovation Residues – Modes and infrastructures of caring for our longue-durée futures (GA 10105480) at the University of Vienna.