It is Summer 2025 and I am working at my standing desk in a sunny southside apartment in southern Germany. It is one of the hottest days this year. There are many hottest days these days all around Europe. In fact, there are so many hottest days all over the place that many people startContinue reading “Doom your optimism!”
Tag Archives: Technocratic Culture
The Hidden History of Soviet Nuclear Plans at Lake Võrtsjärv in Estonia
1967 or possibly 1972, a convoy of black Volgas navigated the winding south-Estonian roads toward Lake Võrtsjärv.1 Whether in summer, collecting dust and mosquitoes, or in autumn or spring, accumulating heavy dirt on the marshy terrain, the leather-fitted cars carried three esteemed men from the Soviet Estonian Academy of Sciences – geologist Anto Raukas, biologist Harald Haberman and energy engineer Ilmar Öpik. Accompanying them were four to six ‘Moscow people’ with plans to establish a nuclear power plant (hereafter NPP) at the picturesque site. Perhaps, as they reached the elevated banks of Vehendi, where reddish pines reached for the blue sky, the men in ominous KGB attire exchanged nods, finding the location suitable for their cutting-edge technology. Maybe, hearing the rustling reeds, they concurred with the Estonian scientists that a new 4000 MWe power plant could not be built on this shallow lake without raising temperatures to harmful levels.
The Technocratic Culture Behind Chernobyl’s Disaster
Recently my new article about nuclear Ukraine was published. In this article, I am using a technocratic culture perspective to analyse what was going on at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant before that fateful night in April 1986, when reactor block four exploded.
New Publication: Exploring Chernobyl’s Connection to Dnieper Hydropower
Today my article “Joining the Dnieper Cascade. An Envirotechnical Water-History of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 1927-1986” was published online in the journal Water History. I am really happy that this was possible. You should check it out! Unsurprisingly, I am indebted to so many people who supported me during the four years this little projectContinue reading “New Publication: Exploring Chernobyl’s Connection to Dnieper Hydropower”
The World Looks at Different Things – But We Are Still Not Forgetting Fukushima-Daiichi
Old governments go, new ones come; right-wing politicians draw one media stunt after another; Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and JD Vance take it upon themselves to reintroduce unveiled predatory capitalism (not like the US didn’t show that sort of behaviour before), destroying democracy and turning the United States more than ever into a blatant oligarchy;Continue reading “The World Looks at Different Things – But We Are Still Not Forgetting Fukushima-Daiichi”
Upcoming Defence!
Five and a half years ago, on 15 October 2018, I joined KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, to embark on a journey of doctoral education. Working as a doctoral student in the Nuclearwaters-Project (ERC Consolidator Grant, PI Per Högselius), I focussed on the nuclear history of Eastern Europe, especially on the territoryContinue reading “Upcoming Defence!”
Update on my PhD-progress
Hopefully you have all had a great summer, including some well-deserved vacation, icecream, sunshine, and – depending where you are – some refreshing swims! As my doctoral education is slowly but surely coming to a close, it is time to give a brief overview where I am and what the stepping stones are, I stillContinue reading “Update on my PhD-progress”
Nucleocrats Don’t Sleep
The following essay is a repost from a text written by me and published on the blog Undisciplined Environments on 31 March 2021. Check out the blog! It is wonderful and lots of interesting people publish there on relevant topics regarding climate change, social change, and energy transition. In a global state of climate emergency,Continue reading “Nucleocrats Don’t Sleep”
Achim Klüppelberg 