200 million years ago, a shallow sea covered the area of Gösgen. Changing crust formations turned the sea from reef to lagoon to desert and back. With the alternation from sea to desert, layers of clay were deposited, stacking gray silt upon itself and compressing it to hard rock. In the still flat landscape, extensive wetlands formed. Shallow pools were filled with stagnant water of a pleasant 20 degrees. Dragonflies buzzed around between the tall ferns while toads sat lazily in the sun. It has been suggested that volcanic action released large amounts of carbon dioxide, leading to higher temperatures. The ocean circulation was probably fairly sluggish because of the warm temperatures and decreased winds. Polar ice caps did not exist yet. When the still young plates of Pangea shifted, land mass was pushed up and the sea dried up. Huge cracks covered the surface of the dry clay, creating treacherous ground to walk upon. The luscious plant life withered and died, turning the colourful landscape brown and barren. But with each rainfall, the ground would swell up again. The clay caught the water and prevented it from disappearing into the ground, filling trenches and dips with ponds. And again, life filled the surface.Amphibians of the family of the toad emerged in the first few million years of the jurassic era, claiming their place in this changing landscape. With a fast reproductive cycle and low demands, they proved resilient in this changing landscape. Bouncing back quickly from large extinction, pioneer species are always the first to reclaim new territory after its destruction. A catastrophic event marked the end of the jurassic era. 66 million bc, a massive asteroid crashed into earth, devastating the global environment and leading to the extinction of many species that had been dominant up to this point. The family of the Anura, the toads, however seemed unaffected.

Today, a nuclear power plant dominates the area of Gösgen. Built in 1979 it has since provided 15 percent of the energy for Switzerland. Compared to the history of the earth, it has been here but a blink of an eye. And soon it will be gone again. In 2039 The power plant will have reached the end of its lifespan and be shut down, its nuclear fuel removed and its radioactive parts dismantled. The machinery will be gutted and reused. The steam powered turbine can be repurposed in a hydroelectric plant, the diesel emergency engines used in hospitals. The smaller surrounding buildings will be torn down, holes remaining in the ground where they once stood. The cooling tower will be collapsed, its optimized structure easily brought to fall by cutting down four of the supporting columns. More sturdy buildings which are too costly to remove will endure, their sides cut open to allow easier access to recyclable materials. The reactor building will be hollowed out, its internal core removed, leaving only the empty shell. The inside of the reactor building will serve as a memory to the atomic history of Switzerland. A large library will contain the records of all power plants and stored radioactive waste. As the safeguard protocol dictates, all records of radioactive interaction have to be kept to ensure that nobody is secretly building atomic bombs. This growing pile of documents will provide guidance for future generations, navigating a postatomic world. Or help them avoid nuclear waste. To safely store the radioactive waste the power plant has produced, a hole is dug into the earth 600 meters deep. This layer of earth we already know. It is the same clay which formed 200 million years ago in the jurassic era. The uniform layers of this opaline clay provide a waterproof shelter for the material to cool down for the next 100 000 years. (The location of the final storage will not be in Gösgen. Another municipality will have to share the burden of atomic energy production.) The excavated clay will trade places with the radioactive waste and be brought back to Gösgen. There, it will be piled up and spread over the area of the former power plant. Clay is not a material well suited for piling up. Once rain falls on the clay, it becomes heavy and slippery, resulting in landslides. The machinery needed to pile up the clay will have to stay in operation to keep feeding the hill with its own runoff. Between stretches of rain, plants will start to grow, taking root and stabilizing the slopes only to be partly washed away again with the next rain. A fluctuating landscape will be created, held in balance by rain and gravity on one side, machine and plant life on the other.

Let’s imagine the year 2090.

Shallow pools are filled with stagnant water of a pleasant 20 degrees. Dragonflies whizz around between the tall ferns while a toad sits lazily in the sun. It has been suggested, that industrial action released large amounts of carbon dioxide, leading to higher temperatures. After longer periods of drought, huge cracks cover the surface of the dry clay, creating treacherous ground to walk upon. The luscious plantlife withers and dies, turning the colourful landscape brown and barren. But with the next rainfall, the ground swells up again. The clay catches the water and prevents it from disappearing into the ground, filling trenches and dips with ponds. And once again, life fills the surface.