The shrine and the reactor: Materializing nuclear memory and power at VDNKh

Abstract

This article analyzes the Atom Pavilion, Russia’s largest nuclear technology museum, as a cultural landscape at the intersection of state power, corporate ambition, and public engagement with science. Drawing on field observations and visitor reviews, I identify three key strategies employed at the museum: materializing nuclear weapons as “fetishes of force” through the shrine-like display of Tsar Bomba; promoting technological self-sufficiency through narratives of the “closed fuel cycle”; and cultivating nostalgia for Soviet nuclear futures while nationalizing them as exclusively Russian. These strategies simultaneously legitimize Russia’s nuclear doctrine, reinforce claims to Soviet technological heritage, and position Rosatom as an instrument of geopolitical influence. The museum selectively materializes aspects of nuclear technology while concealing others, demonstrating how cultural institutions transform technological power into national heritage.