Toxic Water

Zuzana Budzaková
(Industrial Design, Slovak Technical University)

Ján Cholvadt
(Architecture, ARCHIP)

Zuzana Řičářová
(Theory and History of Art, UMPRUM)

Viktória Žigmundová
(Architecture, UMPRUM)

The project Toxic Water reflects on the role of water in nuclear energy production. In particular, it focuses on a less-known aspect of uranium processing: the storage of its byproducts that in part constitutes the ecological burden that mining leaves behind. The project team chose the uranium tailings pond in Dolní Rožínka in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands as a focal point of their research. Toxic Water follows the ambiguities of water in environments affected by radioactivity where it acquires a dual quality of both protection and  threat, as it offers a false sense of control over processes and substances that are never fully graspable.

Local reservoirs retain contaminated water that was polluted during the extraction of nuclear fuel from the mined ore. In this process, the ore is crushed, ground and leached in chemicals. The final pulp is captured at the bottom of interconnected lagoons so that it doesn’t easily pollute adjacent water, air and soil as the sludge still contains up to 85% of the ore’s original radioactivity. Even though uranium mining in Dolní Rožínka has been discontinued in 2017 as the last of its kind in Central Europe, the widespread area for chemical water treatment and storage of contaminated sludge has to be held in operation for decades to come. It is vital to ensure that toxic water and heavy metals don’t leak into the surroundings as even small amounts of chemicals can endanger fish, cause reproductive problems or deformities for aquatic species and accumulate in the food chain. The pond itself is lined with clay and synthetic materials that stop water from seeping through. The excess water that could overflow is removed and chemically treated. Eventually, clear yet noticeably warmer water is discharged into the river Nedvědička.

The uranium industry has been associated with this area for seventy years now and has formed its shape significantly. Its insensitive interference with nature led to the destabilization of the entire ecosystem. Yet the uranium industry has created jobs and contributed to the development of local infrastructure. At this point, the employees are working towards the remediation of the site. All mining related facilities, buildings and materials will eventually end up submerged in water – and as soon as the water is treated and removed, the body of sludge will be encapsulated by an impervious bentonite layer covered with soil and planted with grass to visually blend in with the surrounding landscape – to sweep away the traces of its existence.

The project captures some of the contradictions in the discourse and symbolic representations related to the site: quantitative information, factual statements and subjective anecdotes are composed into a narrative exposing a significant level of uncertainty and ambivalence intrinsic to fluid, permeable boundaries such as water in this case. The fragility of the system is further emphasized in the installation of synthetic materials that provide protection but can’t ensure total containment.