Into Eternity is a Finnish documentary directed by Michael Madsen about Onkalo, a a nuclear waste storage site which is currently being excavated in Finland. Onkalo (meaning hiding place in English) is an elaborate system of tunnels that go 500m deep into the bedrock, the site will be back filled once full of nuclear waste from the numerous power plants across Finland so that the waste is not disturbed and the dangerous radioactive material inside does not harm the planet.
Work began on the site in the 20th century and is not set to finish until the 22nd, it came about as a more stable, long term solution for storing nuclear waste was needed. Currently in Finland it iOS stored in surface level water tanks which contain the radiation but are not predictable enough long term as on the earths surface conditions are always changing and this waste will remain dangerous to humans for at least another 100,000 years.
One of the things this film really made me question is the ability of designers to create solutions for future generations and the worst possible eventualities, a big worry with Onkalo is what will happen when it is sealed up and the people involved in the project pass away. Who will warn others not to disturb the radioactive tomb. It can't be predicted how future civilisations will interpret the site, as treasure trove or a religious tomb? Will they want to find out what is down there or just stumble upon it and keep going out of curiosity. It's almost impossible to know and the thought of trying to design for eventualities such as this is incredibly daunting.
For every product of course you must think of the worst case scenario of how someone would use it, this is something I always try to do and think how someone would intuitively think if they knew no background about a product. It's something this documentary made me want to do more of, when so much is on the line the designers have to consider the worst case and try to leave intuitive markers for someone who might speak a language we don't even know yet. All the best products don't need signposting or rune stones to know what to do with them, that's what I want to strive for.
An issue I had with the project though was the treatment of the workers and their depiction compared to the designers who were interviewed, the workers work all day in the dark and go home to small apartment in the cold for weeks on end to make this massive bunker shown above. Whereas the designers are all interviewed in nice hotels or buildings wearing nice suits in comfortable chairs, something just didn't really sit right with me about the pride the designers took in their big huge project and the treatment of the workers.
A recent issue that has came to light that really upset me was the treatment of workers at the Qatar World Cup and the many deaths that resulted as a result of terrible working conditions. I worry that we haven't made nearly enough progress since the times of canaries singing in mines.
In terms of the design of the facility itself I cannot deny that it will be an impressive feat when completed, I agree with the need for more robust nuclear waste disposal as well and this does seem to be the best way to do it as long as we all take responsibility to teach future generations about the waste hidden under the surface. But nuclear power plants aren't sustainable for the future in their current form, more needs to be done to reduce the dangerous waste it creates. It did raise questions for me as well as to what the UK and other countries are doing with their nuclear waste and is there any better alternatives. The UK are planning to increase nuclear energy generation going forward and build underground repositories similar to the ones in Finland, will these also stand the test of time?
The documentary itself was interesting as well in terms of the writing, music and cinematography. The whole thing was very dramatic and eerie, as went dived deeper into the tunnels you really got a sense of the darkness and danger. Though some bits were a bit too showy for me, the match bit namely, it did well to shed light on an interesting issue and one we should all be talking about if not only to find a great solution but also educate ourselves and future generations not to venture into anywhere with a big black and yellow skull and crossbones carved onto a stone outside.
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