Atomic Environments: Nuclear Technologies, the Natural World, and Policymaking, 1945–1960

263 Pages·2023·4.616 MB·English

by  Neil Shafer Oatsvall

ATOMIC ENVIRONMENTS
X
ne us
NEW HISTORIES OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE & MEDICINE
neXus is a book series devoted to the publication of high- quality scholarship
in the history of the sciences and allied fields. Its broad reach encompasses
science, technology, the environment, agriculture, and medicine, but also in-
cludes intersections with other types of knowledge, such as music, urban
planning, or educational policy. Its essential concern is with the interface of
nature and culture, broadly conceived, and it embraces an emerging intellec-
tual constellation of new syntheses, methods, and approaches in the study of
people and nature through time.
SERIES EDITORS
Alan I Marcus
Mark D. Hersey
Alexandra E. Hui
ADVISORY BOARD
Amy Sue Bix
Frederick R. Davis
Jim Downs
Richard A. Richards
Suman Seth
Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis
Jessica Wang
ATOMIC ENVIRONMENTS
Nuclear Technologies, the Natural World, and Policymaking,
1945 –1960
* *
NEIL S. OATSVALL
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS TUSCALOOSA
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487–0380
uapress.ua.edu
Copyright © 2023 by the University of Alabama Press
All rights reserved.
Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be
addressed to the University of Alabama Press.
Typeface: Scala Pro
Cover image: Operation Crossroads, Bikini Atoll, July 25, 1946;
United States Department of Energy
Cover design: Michele Myatt Quinn
Cataloging- in- Publication data is available from the Library of
Congress.
ISBN: 978- 0- 8173- 2146- 8
E- ISBN: 978- 0- 8173- 9434- 9
For my dearest loves, Eleanor and Abigail

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
PART I
Nuclear Weapons Testing in Natural and Political Systems
chapter one
Bombs in Their Natural Habitats 13
chapter two
Fallout over Fallout 45
chapter three
Cold War Environmental Diplomacy 77
PART II
Nuclear Technologies by Land and by Sea
chapter four
Atomic Agriculture 111
chapter five
From Affluence to Effluence 143
Conclusion: On Nuclear Technologies, Decision Making,
and Environmentalism 167
VIII CONTENTS
Notes 175
Bibliography 225
Index 239
Illustrations
1.1. “Trinity,” the world’s first detonation of a nuclear weapon 14
1.2. “Trinity” 25 milliseconds after detonation 15
1.3. Operation Crossroads “Able” shot, detonated July 1, 1946 20
1.4. Closer aerial view of Operation Crossroads “Able” shot 21
1.5. A view of Operation Crossroads “Baker” shot 21
1.6. Operation Crossroads “Baker” shot detonated July 25, 1946 22
1.7. Operation Crossroads “Baker” shot, again 25
2.1. Operation Castle “Bravo” shot, detonated March 1, 1954 54
2.2. Weather balloons used for stratospheric fallout monitoring 60
2.3. Drawing of the use of weather balloons to monitor
stratospheric fallout in the Pacific 61
4.1. Title page of Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom! 112
4.2. Page on agriculture In Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom! 114
5.1. Hand- drawn map of Hanford Atomic Works Area 161