Care, Closure, and Community: Stories from a Decommissioned Nuclear Town

In this episode of the DePOT Podcast, host Adna Camdzic speaks with cultural geographer and social theorist Leila Dawney about her in-depth research in Visaginas, Lithuania — a town built around the now-closed Ignalina nuclear power plant. Through long-term collaboration with photographers Laurie Griffiths and Jonty Tacon, Dawney explores what it means for a community to live through the slow, complex process of nuclear deindustrialization.

Far from the usual narratives of decline and abandonment, this conversation highlights how care, memory, and everyday practices sustain community life after closure. Dawney reflects on the emotional and social attachments people maintain to the place, the transformation of labor from generation to generation, and how residents navigate the enduring legacies of Soviet industrial planning and post-Soviet marginalization.

The episode offers a nuanced look at how people endure — and even reimagine — life in a decommissioned town, challenging assumptions about what happens after industrial futures fade.