The Nuclear Anthropocene of the Soviet north: Cold War vernacular collecting and mining uranium, and its legacies

Abstract

This paper explores the production of vernacular geological knowledge about uranium during the Cold War. In particular, it investigates uranium gathering practices in Siberia as a form of geopower exercised where Soviet citizens were encouraged to participate in geological exploration of the ‘bowels of the Earth’ for national benefits. This paper further discusses a novel theorization of the early Soviet understanding of the Anthropocene concept in its relation to the notion of nuclearity as formulated by Soviet scholar Vladimir Vernadsky (1863–1945). Finally, the Soviet nuclear project's legacies are analyzed through indigenous experiences of living near the uranium mine in Siberia. The material used for this research comprised a selected set of youth magazine articles and guidelines issued in the 1930s–1950s by Soviet geological agencies with the aim of promoting vernacular geological practices among Soviet citizens, as well as archival materials and field data collected from geologists and indigenous people in Transbaikalia, eastern Siberia, in 2021. This paper shows that Soviet citizens were a crucial part of the nuclear ideology and, at the same time, were treated as the means of nuclear production because of their ability to search for and extract uranium. It further shows how nuclear discourse in the Soviet Union and modern Russia has been shaped by Vernadsky's ideas about the role of nuclear power in the transformation of society.