Elements of Controversy: the Atomic Energy Commission and radiation safety in nuclear weapons testing, 1947-1974 PDF
Preview Elements of Controversy: the Atomic Energy Commission and radiation safety in nuclear weapons testing, 1947-1974
Elements of Controversy The Atomic Energy Commission and Radiation Safety in Nuclear Weapons Testing 1947-1974 Barton C. Hacker University of California Press Berkeley / Los Angeles / London University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press London, England Copyright © 1994 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hacker, Barton C., 1935- Elements of controversy: the Atomic Energy Commission and radiation safety in nuclear weapons testing, 1947-1974 / Barton C. Hacker. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-520-08323-7 1. Nuclear weapons—United States—Testing—Safety measures— History. 2. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission—History. I. Title. U264.3.H333 1994 355.8'25119'0973—dc20 93-41611 CIP Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984 © For Sally Contents Maps xi Foreword • Bruce W. Church xiii About This Book • William J. Brady xv Preface xxi Introduction: Testing and Radiological Safety 1 The Manhattan Project Legacy 1 The Third Wave 6 1 Operation Sandstone: The AEC Test Program Begins, 1947-1948 10 The Formation of Joint Task Force 7 10 Establishing the Pacific Proving Ground 14 Planning Radiation Safety 19 Preparations at Enewetak 23 X-Ray 27 Yoke, Zebra, and Roll-up 31 2 A Continental Test Site: Operations Greenhouse and Ranger, 1948-1951 36 Greenhouse Plans 36 Finding a North American Test Site 40 Preparing for Operation Ranger 44 vii Contents Testing in Nevada Begins 48 Greenhouse at Last 53 Thermonuclear Experiments 56 3 Developing Weapons and Tactics in Nevada: Testing and Troop Maneuvers, 1951-1952 60 Jangle Feasibility 60 Military Needs and AEC Standards 65 Buster-Jangle 69 Rad-Safe Plans and Training 72 Desert Rock and Tumbler-Snapper 77 4 Testing Jeopardized: Fallout from Ivy and Upshot-Knothole, 1952-1953 82 Toward Thermonuclear Weapons 82 Mike and King 86 Safeguarding Civilians and Troops 89 Desert Rock V 95 Upshot-Knothole 99 Fallout in Nevada and Utah 102 5 The Cost of Sheep: Fallout and the Future of Nevada Testing, 1953 106 Livestock Problems Emerge 106 Preliminary Findings 111 Exposure Standards under Attack 115 Hard Thinking about Safety Problems 119 Absolving Radioactivity 123 Scientists versus Stockmen 127 6 Operation Castle, 1954 131 Castle Foundations 131 Bravo 136 Evacuation 140 The Unlucky Dragon 148 Castle after Bravo 152 First Repercussions 155 Contents ix 7 Routinization and Controversy: Accelerated Testing and Rising Public Concern, 1955-1956 159 Reshaping Public Safety 159 Operation T eapot 164 Testing Underwater 170 Safety Testing Begins 172 Operation Redwing 176 Strontium and Sunshine 180 8 Atmospheric Testing Challenged: Safety Issues and the Test Ban Movement, 1956-1961 185 New Guidelines 185 Plumbbob and the End of Desert Rock 189 Hardtack and Argus 192 Toward the Moratorium 196 Nuclear Rockets and Ramjets in Nevada 200 Tunnels, Shafts, and Craters 205 9 From Moratorium to Test Ban: Radiation Safety in Transition, 1961-1964 211 Nougat and Gnome 211 The Last Pacific Tests 215 Fallout from Sedan 219 Radioiodine Matters 222 Testing and Thyroid Disease 226 Problems of Treaty Compliance 230 10 Testing Underground: The New Character of Radiation Safety, 1964-1974 236 Nuclear Excavation 236 Plowshare’s Fading Promise 241 From Mississippi to Alaska 244 Baneberry 247 The Issue of Low-Level Radiation 251 Caring for the Natives 254 Contents Epilogue: After the AEC, 1975-1990 259 Congressional Initiatives 259 Executive Action 261 The Quest for Compensation 266 Radiation Exposure versus Radiation Damage 272 History and Health Effects 276 Appendix 281 Acronyms and Abbreviations 283 Notes 291 Bibliography 491 Books 491 Conference Proceedings and Other Edited Works Magazine and Journal Articles 511 Newspaper and News Magazine Articles 530 Congressional Hearings and Reports 532 Nuclear Test Personnel Review Reports 535 Other Government Documents 541 Unpublished Articles, Manuscripts, and Dissertations Text Index 565 Notes Index 591 Maps 1. The Central Pacific 5 2. The northern Marshall Islands 15 3. Enewetak atoll, 1948 16 4. The southwestern United States 41 5. Nevada Test Site and vicinity, 1951 49 6. Bikini atoll, 1954 133 7. Castle Bravo dose contours after 96 hours, 1-5 March 1954 144 xi
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