10,000 Years Initiative

The 10,000 Years Initiative was a Department of Energy program to provide secure locations to dispose of leftover nuclear waste from weapons production, research, and energy production while also conveying to future inhabitants the dangers the waste posed to life.

Background[]

The 10,000 Years Initiative aimed to deal with the problem of long term storage of radioactive waste. Such waste takes thousands of years to become inert, essentialy posing a long-term hazard. The Initiative would create repositories that could safely store the waste for millenia, and effectively warn future generations about their contents, even in the case of total societal collapse. The project was divided into two distinct phases.^[1]

Phase One[]

Phase One was the construction of a gigantic concrete spike field, designed to evoke a sense of dread and discourage attempts at construction. The concrete was prepared in a manner that could withstand weather, erosion, and shifting topography.^[2]

Phase Two[]

Phase Two added sturdy metal engravings around the perimeter, sealed against the environment. These engravings were designed as pictograms, rather than any modern language, so that their warnings would remain understandable even if modern languages completely disappeared.^[3]^[2]

Once the site was filled to capacity, it would be sealed and left alone for as long as it presented a danger to life. While this would not guarantee safety, it would provide ample warning and reduce the risk of future generations accidentally stumbling on the site and unleashing the contaminated material stored within.^[4]