The Plutonium Files (87 page)

1
Huddled in the cold: Description of Shot Fox comes from April 2, 1996, interview with Jerry Schultz and his Oct. 25, 1995, recollection entitled “Remembrance of Operation Ranger.”

2
lasted just thirteen days: DNA fact sheet, “Operation Ranger.”

3
Because the exercises: William Jay Brady, “Problems with Radiation Dose Reconstructions and Unassigned Doses for Atomic Veterans,” Paper presented at University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada, June 25–30, 1995.

4
“Doom Town”: Mary Manning, “ ‘Doom Town’ Builder’s Demise,”
Las Vegas Review Journal/Sun,
July 3, 1994, p. 6-D.

5
2,000 to 3,000: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 455.

6
“Fear of radiation”: Richard L. Meiling, “Military Medical Problems Associated with Military Participation in Atomic Energy Commission Tests,” June 27, 1951 (ACHRE No. DOD-122794-B).

7
“A tactical exercise”: Ibid.

8
“negative, defensive attitude”: Sven A. Bach, “Conference at OCAFF, Fort Monroe, Virginia, re Past and Future Atomic Weapons Tests,” July 12, 1951 (ACHRE No. NARA-042295-C).

9
“more realistic tolerance levels”: Ibid.

10
“It was generally agreed”: Ibid.

11
“It is, of course, obvious”: “Biomedical Participation in Future Atomic Weapons Tests,” Joint Panel on the Medical Aspects of Atomic Warfare, Sept. 20, 1951 (ACHRE No. DOE-072294-B).

1
“A person in the vicinity”: “Public Health Convention Will End Here Today,”
AT,
May 23, 1951, p. 10.

2
“In Los Alamos”: Lyon and Evans, eds.,
Los Alamos: The First Forty Years,
p. 57.

3
“meddlers, peddlers”: Ibid., p. 117.

4
One bomb would: Hacker,
Elements of Controversy,
pp. 60–61.

5
“It is not possible”: Shields Warren to James McCormack, “Health Hazards Associated with Underground Burst in Nevada,” Feb. 21, 1951 (CIC 103851).

6
Fifty-five pages: “Notes on the Meeting of a Committee to Consider the Feasibility and Conditions for a Preliminary Radiologic Safety Shot for Jangle,” May 21–22, 1951, ACHRE.

7
one to two microns: Glasstone,
Effects of Nuclear Weapons,
pp. 597–600.

8
“would appear most ominous”: Latimer and Hamilton to Shields Warren, “Review of the Gabriel Project Report,” Oct. 4, 1949 (CIC 26588).

9
“The particle size problem”: “Notes,” p. 6.

10
“One point makes me”: Ibid., p. 26.

11
“Our safe region”: Ibid., p. 29.

12
“From our experience”: Ibid., p. 26.

13
“We are faced”: Ibid., p. 40.

14
“One thing I’m afraid”: Ibid., p. 52.

15
“The hazard in the lung”: “Summary of Jangle Meeting,” attachment to “Notes.”

16
“Distant or worldwide”: “Dr. Warren: Stevenson Statement Should be Corrected,”
U.S. News & World Report,
Oct. 26, 1956, p. 127.

1
The GIs lived: In addition to individuals cited below, description of Desert Rock compiled from interviews conducted between March and May of 1996 with Robert Hall, John Dishong, Billy Sykes, Wordell Woolridge, Glenn Stuckey, Louis Silva, Albert Remavich, Dan Pfahl, and Filiberto Uriegas.

2
no free betting: Venlo Wolfsohn, “Recollection of Operation Buster-Jangle’s Shot Dog,” n.d.

3
“The ground was running”: Int. William Brecount, March 20, 1996.

4
an oven door: Int. Robert Saunders, May 1, 1996.

5
rocks falling: Int. Ubaldo Arizmendi, March 20, 1996.

6
“Though they drove”: “New Weapon for the GIs,”
Life,
Nov. 12, 1951, pp. 37–39.

7
“If the radiation intensity”: “History of the Battalion Combat Team (BCT) During Shot Dog Operation Buster-Jangle (1951),” Venlo Wolfsohn personal papers.

8
found the troops’ confidence: Rosenberg,
Atomic Soldiers,
pp. 46–47. 263 7,500 roentgens: Hacker,
Elements of Controversy,
p. 70.

9
“The absence of film badges”: Ibid., p. 71.

10
“So strong is the feeling”: Director of Military Application, “Troop Participation in Operation Tumbler-Snapper,” n.d., ACHRE, p. 3.

11
“Accidents occurring”: Shields Warren to K. E. Fields, “Draft Staff Paper
on Troop Participation in Operation Tumbler-Snapper,” March 25, 1952 (CIC 18863).

12
“from two and one half”: Gordon Dean to H. B. Loper, April 2, 1952 (ACHRE No. DOD-100694-A).

13
“Here again”: L. L. Lemnitzer to U. S. Rep Carl T. Durham, Feb. 11, 1953, ACHRE.

14
launched a campaign: John T. Hayward to John C. Bugher, “Exposure Standards for Personnel at AEC Weapons Tests,” Sept. 19, 1952 (CIC No. 72699).

15
“Our position”: George Kraker to Fields, “Troop Participation in Upshot-Knothole,” Oct. 7, 1952, enclosure (CIC 72699), p. 28.

16
“close atomic support”: John C. Oakes to Assistant Chief of Staff, “Indoctrination of Personnel in Atomic Warfare Operations,” June 3, 1952 (ACHRE No. NARA-112594-A).

17
selected soldiers: K. D. Nichols to Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, “Positioning Troops at Atomic Explosions,” Feb. 3, 1953, ACHRE.

18
“must have sufficient”: Carl Jark, “Instructions for Positioning DA [Department of Army] Personnel at Continental Atomic Tests,” Feb. 20, 1953, ACHRE.

19
“Volunteers in foxholes”: R. C. Morris to Army Chief of Research and Development, “Proposed Project Regarding Blast Injury Evaluation,” Nov. 15, 1955 (ACHRE No. DOD-030895-F).

20
“It is evident”: “Detailed Explanation of AFSWP Comments on Feasibility of Human Volunteer Program,” n.d. (ACHRE No. DOD-030895-F).

21
no more “useful”: Ibid.

22
handful of excess cancer deaths: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 482.

23
“There were also”: Jordan OH, JNS, p. 14.

24
“I thought it was”: Int. William Jay Brady, May 12, 1999.

25
erroneously included 4,500: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 480.

26
study of Crossroads: Institute of Medicine,
Mortality of Veteran Participants in the Crossroads Nuclear Test.

27
500 of the 450,000: Int. Pat Broudy, May 12, 1997.

28
“creates the unmistakable”: William Taft IV to G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery, Sept. 4, 1981, Broudy personal papers.

29
fewer than fifty: Int. Patricia Broudy, July 7, 1997.

30
“were in the hundreds”: Cong. hearing,
Effects to Veterans of Exposure to Ionizing Radiation,
p. 72.

1
“The Atomic Energy Commission does not”: John Bugher to Walter Aleen, April 14, 1953, ACHRE. Letters from volunteers also obtained from ACHRE.

1
four fighter pilots cruised: Details of this flight taken from April 12, 1952, accident report entitled “Major Aircraft Accident, F-84G, Eniwetok” (Doc. No. TR-9141, E8, 56B), which was jointly declassified in 1998 by DOE and
DOD. Also Leland Taylor,
History of Air Force Atomic Cloud Sampling,
published in January 1963 by Air Force Systems Command. Some specific references cited below.

2
column was twenty miles: Shelton,
Reflections of a Nuclear Weaponeer,
pp. 5–38.

3
diaphanous cloud: Taylor,
History of Air Force Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 105.

4
“A dingaling”: Int. William Wright, Oct. 20, 1995.

5
the stem was highly radioactive: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 105.

6
When the head: Ibid.

7
“When he reached the cloud”: Ibid., p. 71.

8
“Inside the cloud Colonel Meroney”: Ibid.

9
electromagnetic interference: The declassified accident report on Jimmy Robinson discloses that a major factor leading to the fatality was the electromagnetic interference from Shot Mike, which caused the “breakdown of communications and electronic equipment during and after shot time in the area.” Interestingly enough, the Air Force history, which was originally classified as “Secret,” makes no mention of the electromagnetic interference, an omission which demonstrates that sensitive information occasionally was withheld even from classified documents.

10
seven-member crew received: DNA,
Operation Ivy,
p. 255.

11
They found an oil slick: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 74.

12
“a miserable thing”: Halberstam,
The Fifties,
p. 42.

13
“gently and irregularly moving”: Edward Teller, “The Work of Many People,”
Science,
p. 274.

14
“was the motion”: Ibid., p. 275.

15
“how to take psychological”: Nichols,
Road to Trinity,
p. 291.

16
“It was an awesome”: Truman,
Years of Trial and Hope,
Vol. 2, p. 314.

17
4,000 people: GAO,
Radiation Exposures for Some Cloud-Sampling Personnel Need to Be Reexamined,
p. 8.

18
“simply overwhelmed”: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 213.

19
“volunteered to get”: Ibid.

20
“must maintain a minimum”: Randall Beck, “Hazardous Duty,”
Knoxville Journal,
Nov. 14, 1985, p. A-17.

21
Fermi rumbled to Ground Zero: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 2.

22
“As I recall, he would not”: Stafford Warren OH, p. 808.

23
developed stomach cancer: Gottfried,
Enrico Fermi,
p. 123.

24
“no ill effects”: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 21.

25
a lead-glass vest: GAO,
Radiation Exposures,
p. 12; Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 87.

26
rose-colored glasses: “The Target of the 4926th Is the Bomb Cloud,”
ARDC Newsmagazine,
March 1957, p. 15, Langdon Harrison personal papers.

27
gold face shields: Int. Langdon Harrison, Oct. 19, 1995.

28
“Its members during test operations”: “The Target of the 4926th,” p. 14.

29
“Needed for planning purposes”: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 209.

30
“The same for ground personnel”: Ibid., p. 193.

31
“A scarcity of information”: Ibid., p. 230.

32
3.9 roentgens: Shields Warren to Carroll Tyler, “Permissible Levels of Radiation Exposure for Test Personnel,” Oct. 11, 1951 (CIC 39084).

33
permitted up to 50 roentgens: W. M. Canterbury to Chief of Staff, USAF, “Radiation Dosage Required for Project 2.66, Operation Redwing,” Oct. 4, 1955 (CIC 76977).

34
42.5 roentgens: Int. Cheri Abdelnour, April 19, 1996.

35
exposures were underestimated: GAO,
Radiation Exposures,
p. 2.

36
“As a result a radiation flux”: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 211.

37
special forklifts were rolled: Int. William Wright, Oct. 20, 1995.

38
“Those aircraft never”: Ibid.

39
Duz, a common laundry: Int. Jim Braddock, March 6, 1996.

40
compound called “Gunk”: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 85.

41
“grease spots collected”: Ibid., p. 230. 281 “Our experience in nuclear tests”: Ibid., p. 236.

42
“We have always gone”: Shipman to Alvin Graves, “Decontamination of Aircraft at Tests,” March 29, 1957, ACHRE.

43
100 roentgens per hour: Taylor,
Atomic Cloud Sampling,
p. 225.

44
“neither crew or passengers”: Ibid., p. 193.

45
“After we went”: Langdon Harrison, Transcript of Personal Hearing before Veterans Administration Regional Office Rating Board, Albuquerque, NM, Aug. 8, 1985.

46
0.2 to 0.3 roentgens: DNA,
Operation Ranger,
p. 95.

47
“Since there is a lack”: Canterbury to Chief of Staff, “Operation Redwing,” p. 1.

48
swallowed a film packet: DNA,
Operation Teapot, 1955,
pp. 96–98.

49
seventeen to forty-one minutes: DNA,
Operation Teapot: Manned Penetrations of Atomic Clouds,
April 30, 1958.

50
Langham was brought: Pinson et al.,
Operation Redwing—Project 2.66A, Early Cloud Penetrations,
Feb. 24, 1960.

51
“wholly insignificant”: Ibid., p. 42.

52
“no action”: Ibid., p. 51.

53
“The whole thing was fraught”: Gallagher,
American Ground Zero,
p. 97.

1
100 people: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 465.

2
“24 rem initial gamma”: Irving Branch, “Detailed Explanation of AFSWP Comments on Feasibility of Human Volunteer Program,” Jan. 20, 1956 (ACHRE No. DOD-030895-F), p. 2.

3
“Prior to final acceptance”:
Robert A. Hinners, “Report of Participation in Selected Volunteer Program of Desert Rock V-7,” April 25, 1953. It is not known whether Hinners suffered any ill effects from the blast. A FOIA request filed with DOD’s Radiation Experiments Command Center yielded little additional information on him.

1
Normally the weapons: Int. William Jay Brady, April 9, 1996.

2
S.H., was the last: Landesberg, “Chorioretinitis Produced by Atomic Bomb Explosion,”
AO,
pp. 539–540. The DOD’s Radiation Experiments Command Center had no information on S.H.

3
Everyone heeded: Szasz,
The Day the Sun Rose Twice,
pp. 82–83.