Symbol Making:
The color was blaze orange, one of the colors chosen in Arctic exploration as being the most visible under the most conditions. It was three-sided because if it were on a box containing biohazardous material and the box was moved around, transported, it might wind up in different positions. Another thing — we needed something that was easily stenciled.
Radiation Symbols
old radiation symbol (left), updated radiation symbol (right)
Also, the IAEA updated radiation warning symbol:
Initiated in 2001, the project was intended to supplement the familiar radiation symbol, the yellow-on-black three-cornered trefoil, which was designed to be simple and conspicuous to prevent it from getting lost among the plethora of easily ignored warnings. But IAEA discovered that simplicity presented problems. Children all over the world consistently identified the radiation hazard symbol as a propeller.
The 10,000 Radiation Problem at Yucca Mountain
A similar design problem is warning future generations – including those alive 10,000 years from now – that the nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain is dangerous:
He said the permanent marker work is based on the notion that future generations will retain an institutional memory. In theory, future travelers to nuclear waste burial sites will seek to understand the meaning of the messages much like archaeologists try to interpret the intentions of the creators of England’s Stonehenge and Egypt’s pyramids.
“The data point is that civilization has always gotten smarter, not dumber,” Nelson said. “You will say people will be smarter in the future. Will they understand these languages? The answer is yes.”
Like Stonehenge and the pyramids, the spiked monoliths atop the perimeters of the planned Yucca Mountain repository and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant could attract the curious and create a nuisance.
“The panel of experts debated that question as well. Some said, ‘Yeah, it will be an attraction,’ ” Nelson noted. But he said they concluded that signs, like locks, are built for honest people, and only honest people obey signs.
The design incorporates redundant message of perimeter stone monuments, smaller markers throughout the repository zone and larger monuments serving as information centers. The DOE’s hope is to use diverse durable materials such as granite, fired clay, and stainless steel, to last throughout the ages to warn future visitors. I’m working to see if they have any updated schematics available.
There have also been design competitions featuring the design of the markers (the winning entries are not the highest quality). The problem boils down to the fact that in 10,000 years, the chance of anyone speaking English, French or any other current language is remote at best. So the symbol must transcend time and place. But how do we do that if the sign and signifier do not adhere to any absolute truth or meaning, if we adhere to our good friends Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault? This by definition is the Post Structuralist problem of our time.
Apples and pears, originally uploaded by c.zwerg
