Paul J. Persiani Papers, 1938-2009

Series 1 is comprised of materials from Persiani's tenure as an employee at Argonne National Laboratory. Persiani began work at Argonne as a mechanical engineer in 1949. He also worked as an assistant to the laboratory director and as a physicist, including as Chief Physicist for the Fast Reactor Core Test Facility (FARET), and directed numerous projects at the laboratory. This series includes resumes, awards, security badges, and mementos (including graphite from the CP-1 Reactor and a simulated sample of calcined liquid radioactive waste), and professional correspondence from his time at ANL. The series also contains 38 photographic prints, 1 photonegative, and three contact sheets featuring scenes of professional events and headshots of Persiani. Also included are project files, project proposals, records on neutron radiation research, operating research reactors, and an extensive collection of experimental data relating to Persiani's work with spent fuel, including data from specific reactors and reactor types in operation locally and internationally.

Series 2 includes project and dissertation materials from Persiani's time as a doctoral candidate at St. Louis University, including his thesis "The Scattering of Low Energy Neutrons by Polycrystalline and Non-Crystalline Substances." The series also contains teaching materials used by Persiani during his staff appointment as Associate Professor at Northwestern University (1959-1963), where he taught reactor design, nuclear and reactor physics, neutron and plasma physics, and general transport theory. The series is also comprised of extensive unlabeled manuscript notes and calculations which likely relate to Persiani's work as a lecturer at Northwestern University, the Purdue University Summer Institute (1960), and the ANL-Associated Midwest Universities (AMU) Program (1966).

Series 3 is comprised of a small group of materials related to Persiani's work on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which sought to place limits on the development and stockpiling of nuclear arms by the United States and the USSR. Included are lists of the U.S. and USSR delegates, including Persiani who represented the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency as one of twenty advisors to the United States negotiators and policymakers. The administrative file also includes news reports and articles about the START treaty, Persiani's ANL travel report, scanned copies of a sheet with signatures from START treaty participants titled "To Commemorate Treaty Unsignature," and copies of several declassified documents from the mid-1960s relating to nuclear fuel processing. Also present are five photographic prints featuring shots of the treaty negotiations and the delegates, the text of the treaty, and a bound copy of the treaty with supporting text published by the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1991.

This series also contains a series of 21 letters sent by Persiani to his wife from Switzerland, where START negotiations were taking place. Written from October 1990 to July 1991, Persiani discusses strengthening relationships between the Soviets and the U.S. delegates, how the escalating problems in the Middle East are affecting negotiations, and the pressure from both sides to finish the treaty so that it can be signed while Gorbachev is still in power. He describes the shifting roles of U.S. ambassadors, and his concerns about the influence of the Soviet far right on the negotiation process. He expresses concern about the slow process of refining the precise technical language used in the treaty. His commitment to specificity in the developing treaty is a recurring theme in these letters.

Series 4 is comprised of publications and lectures produced by Persiani between 1951 and 2004. Included are ANL technical publications, papers produced for internal use, and journal articles. The lecture materials are comprised of transcripts, notes, overhead transparencies, and printed PowerPoint slides prepared for ANL, conferences, and other professional events. Many of the materials reflect Persiani's day-to-day work at ANL, including his work on the Fast Reactor Core Test Facility (FARET), his involvement in the analysis of spent fuel and alternative fuel cycles, and his nonproliferation efforts.

Series 5 contains materials from dozens of professional conferences including meetings of the American Nuclear Society, the European Safeguards Research and Development Association (ERSDA), and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. Also represented are numerous conferences and trainings held by Argonne National Labs during Persiani's tenure there. Included are papers, programs, bound proceedings, and other administrative documentation.

Series 6 is comprised of technical reports, papers, reprints, datasheets, industry publications, and promotional materials compiled by Persiani. Many of the materials are arranged by creating institution and include organizations such as Argonne National Laboratory, General Electric, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and Westinghouse. The series also contains numerous technical publications (including several translated from Russian), clippings from popular newsources, and nuclear industry publications.