Shannon Cram presents her work on nuclear politics and policy

IAS faculty member Shannon Cram presented a paper about her current book project, Unmaking the Bomb: Nuclear Life and the Politics of Impossibility, at the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society in Chicago in April. The paper was part of the Collegium's Engineered Worlds conference and a panel entitled "Impossible Conditions" which discussed the embodied, everyday politics of radioactive and chemical contamination. In May, she participated in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability's 29th annual"DC Days". DC Days brings about 70 activists to Washington D.C. for a week of meetings with state and federal representatives about nuclear weapons disarmament and nuclear waste cleanup. This year, participants held a total of 106 meetings with congressional and executive branch offices, including key senate and house members, the Department of Energy, the State Department, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Government Accountability Office, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and key Armed Services and Appropriations Committees. Also in May, she participated in the 7th annual Forum for Shared Conversation about Challenging Issues at Hanford. This three-day Forum takes place in Leavenworth, Washington and brings regional stakeholders from across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho together with agency representatives to discuss some of the thornier issues associated with cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Cram is a member of the Forum's Steering Committee and helped to organize this year's event.