Portraits of Nuclear Scientists

By: Alan Plotz, Aaron Serianni, and Michael Tsai

Abstract:

The goal of this project was to document current nuclear and nuclear-adjacent research occurring at Princeton. While the Nuclear Princeton project has records of Princeton’s previous involvements with nuclear research on native communities, we want to give our audience a sense of how nuclear research is being conducted today. We interviewed professors in a variety of fields who currently work on nuclear projects about their work and how they understand the ethical implications of nuclear research. We hope that our following investigations and interviews promote consideration about the implications of current nuclear research, and provide comparison to the nuclear research of the past. In particular look for references to indigenous Americans and the understanding of land as they relate to their nuclear research. The different professors who find different ways of engaging with nuclear materials and nuclear pasts also capture different understandings of the land and their ethical obligations.

Please see the subsections of this project for more information about the individual interviews.