Analyze

Before our tour at the Weldon Springs Interpretative Center, we were asked not to take any pictures of our tour guide nor of other employees. To be recorded publically, they would have had to obtain an official media clearance. The photo points to these limits, with the metal arch obscuring the group as it listens to the guide. In consequence, there are at least two aspects that should be retained in our written record. First were the upbeat style and delivery of our male guide, that shaped our experience of the exhibition. Our group asked him about his educational background and he briefly explained the process to become a certified interpreter. Second is the fact that we were being accompanied and followed around by a group of about six representatives of the Department of Energy. Our group came to agree that this number and associated costs are significant, pointing towards the attention that our (probably usual?) international group of scholars drew. It might have been curiosity or slight hostility, it's hard to tell, also because we didn't ask them directly. The image certainly captures some lessons and dynamics what it means to visit an educational fieldsite with a larger group in contrast to the 'lone fieldworker.'

The Tribute to the Mallinckrodt Uranium Workers is perhaps the most reflexive display in the Interpretive Center at Weldon Springs. By listing the names of the Mallinckrodt employees and acknowledging their sacrifices, the tribute at least intimates how the toxic process of uranium refinement, including the secrecy and deceit that surrounded it, impacted the lives of the local community. And yet, given the juxtaposition of the exhibit next to the "Timeline of the Nuclear Age" and an encompassing display on "The Process" of refinement, the critical nuance of this quotidian, human level is muddled by both the macro events of history and the micro details of scientific practice. It is also worth noting that in the online tour of the exhibit, the purpose and the meaning of the tribute bears no mention all. An image of the arch is provided, but not a single bit of context as to what it signifies. Instead, what we are given access to is only the timeline, the process description, and a romanticized version of the Mallinckrodt story taken from a tour guide that was written in 1959. 

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) was founded in 1980 by physicians from the United States and the former Soviet Union who shared a common commitment to the prevention of nuclear war between their two countries. In 1985, the organization recieved the nobel peace prize for their efforts.

IPPNW is comprised of national medical organizations, not individuals, with a common commitment to the abolition of nuclear weapons and the prevention of war. Each organization may range in size from a handful of dedicated physicians and medical students to tens of thousands of activists and their supporters.

I can't really find any concise information in regards to the IIPNW having direct publications or legislation passed. They seem as more of an organization that compiles information, and presents at global colloquiums in order to swy opinions for preventions of escalation. They also have many outreach programs for new physicians that help support the idea of nuclear prevention. 

The largest event that affects this organization was the Cold War, becuase it was the reason that it was formed in 1980. The organization cites the first principal of the medical profession — that doctors have an obligation to prevent what they cannot treat. The website states that experts come together to explain the medical and scientific facts about nuclear war to policy makers and to the public, and to advocate for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the world’s arsenals. 

IPPNW is funded by donations and are a non-profit organization. They also recieved money upon recieving the nobel peace prize.

The hardest thing that they have to deal with is trying to convince uneducated legistalors on topics that can affect millions of lives. The material that seems simple to them must be conveyed in a mundane matter.

The goal of this organization is to secure a more peaceful and safe world free from the threat of nuclear war and destruction. 

The IPPNW is a non-partisan federation of various national medical groups from over 63 countries. The organization represents physicians, medical students, healthcare professionals, and other concerned stakeholders.