My Nuclear Life

Physicist and activist, Frank von Hippel discusses his career in arms control and what the future may hold for the world.

Two corrections – 1) The Nuclear Weapons Freeze march was from the UN to Central park and 2) The banner in the Freeze march said 177 out of 195 towns voted for the Freeze in Vermont, not 193 out of 197.

Our team returns to the Soviet Union to take data on the Slava. We hear about the spectroscopy of a nuclear weapon and the legacy of the Black Sea Experiment.

This episode sets the stage for the Black Sea Experiment. We are introduced to Tom Cochran and Frank von Hippel, two people who had a hand in changing the way the US viewed arms control verification. This episode introduces seismic verification, used to verify nuclear tests for decades.

Shelly continues her stay in Tbilisi, Georgia and speaks to two Physicists, Giorgia Japaridz (Illia State Univ.) and Revaz Shanidze (Tbilisi State Univ). They discuss what life as a physicist was like under Soviet rule and after Georgian independence. Along the way we learn about scientists who protected nuclear material when security fled, why the Institute’s reactor was unique, and find out how to survive in post-Soviet times. This podcast is in collaboration with The Stanley Center for Peace and Security.

Spend time with Shelly and two guest as she travels to Tbilsi, Georgia. First she discusses storytelling and Georgian’s atomic Odyssey with Shorena Lortkipanidze from the Civil Council on Defense and Security (Tbilsi, Georgia). Next, Mariam Chabashvidi explains her love for computer programming after Georgian independence and how she became an invaluable member of the nuclear science team at the Institute of Physics in Tbilsi, Georgia. This podcast is in collaboration with The Stanley Center for Peace and Security.

Start the New Year off with a bang. Join Shelly & Miss America 2023, nuclear engineer, and fellow Badger Grace Stanke to discuss a range of topics.

What makes Edward Teller tick? Find out with physical chemist and author Istvan Hargittai on this episode.

Physics Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland talks about all things lasers, how lasers relate to nuclear physics, and explains why she had to pay the long-distance bill to Sweden.

Meet Dr. Ed Calabrese, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, School of Public Health & Health Sciences. Ed has spent years diving into the history of dose response and the Nobel Prize awarded to Hermann Muller for this work.

How can you find the age of Plutonium? Why is it important? What are the applications? Find out the answer to these questions and more on this episode of My Nuclear Life when Cody Folden joins Shelly Lesher to discuss his paper in the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry.