The Plutonium Files (86 page)

1
“our very survival”: Cong. hearing,
Investigation into the United States Atomic Energy Project,
July 11, 1949, p. 881.

2
“The radioactive isotopes”: Evans, “The Medical Uses of Atomic Energy,”
Atlantic Monthly,
January 1946, p. 71.

3
1,092 shipments: AEC press release, “Background Material on Activity in First Year of Distribution of Pile-Produced Radioisotopes,” Aug. 3, 1947.

4
“The liberal establishment”: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 72.

5
“would aid in showing”: AEC, “Report of the Medical Board of Review,” June 20, 1947, p. 5.

6
$5 million: Shields Warren to M. W. Boyer, “Biology and Medicine Cancer Program,” Oct. 3, 1951, Udall papers.

7
Armed with $1.1 million: Gil Whittemore, “Shields Warren Papers,” Oct. 6, 1994, ACHRE, p. 4.

8
“The emphasis on”: AEC, “Medical Board of Review,” p. 8.

9
“no romance”: AEC, “Meeting of the Biological and Medical Committee,” Dec. 8, 1950 (ACHRE No. DOE-012795-C-1), p. 145.

10
“time consuming and rather unspectacular”: Stafford Warren, “Radioactivity, Health and Safety,” April 1, 1947, p. 29, in George Darling, MSS 770, “Radioactive Materials Research” Folder, Yale University Library.

11
“Several members [of the Advisory]”: Bob Tumbleson to Morse Salisbury, “Visit to Los Alamos with Medical Advisory Board,” Jan. 13, 1948, DOE archives.

12
“One had the feeling”: Bale OH, JNS, p. 40.

13
“It was fantastic”: Stanton Cohn OH, JNS, p. 29.

14
“I am black and blue”: Shipman, “H Division Activities,” May 6, 1969 (LANL-HSPT-94–108) p. 34.

15
By the 1950s: Hewlett and Holl,
Atoms for Peace and War,
p. 264.

16
“Never before in history”: Behrens,
Atomic Medicine,
p. 3.

17
“Pretty soon it makes”: Morgan OH, JNS, p. 9.

18
“The backers”: Jungk,
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns,
p. 254.

19
“This was, to borrow”: Rothman,
Strangers at the Bedside,
p. 51.

20
“In some cases, basic”: GAO,
Human Experimentation,
p. 1.

21
“Some of my peers”: Silverman OH, p. 75.

22
“Doctors who were doing”: Leonard Sagan OH. Excerpt courtesy of Jon Harkness.

23
pertained only to patients: Grodin, “Historical Origins of the Nuremberg Code,” in
Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code,
p. 124.

24
William Beaumont: Ibid., p. 125.

25
“will not protect”: “Element of Consent in Surgical Operations,”
JAMA,
p. 402.

26
“In the case at hand”:
Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital,
105 NE 92 (1914).

27
by the 1920s the Army: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 780.

28
“It is the most fundamental”: Cong. hearing,
Radiation Testing on Humans,
1994, p. 74.

29
“The connection between”: Silverman OH, pp. 87–88.

30
“The model was in religion”: Ibid., p. 7.

31
“It’s very easy”: Finch OH, p. 52.

32
“I must also tell you”: Silverman OH, pp. 113–114.

33
“We were taking care of them”: Beeson OH, p. 39.

34
“One of the fellows in the cardiac”: Ibid., p. 27.

35
“I may be phrasing this crudely”: Ibid., p. 28.

36
“It brings up the sociological”: Ibid.

37
African American mothers: DOE,
Experiments Associated with the U.S. Department of Energy,
p. 186.

38
tens of thousands of hours: Int. Gary B. Ellis, July 23, 1997.

39
“some of which”: “Medical Policy,” Oct. 8, 1947 (ACHRE DOE-051094-A-502), pp. 3–4.

40
AEC researchers didn’t really: Shields Warren to Albert Holland, “Basic Policy Concerning Human Administration of Isotopes,” Dec. 7, 1948, Jacqueline Kittrell personal papers.

41
“Aebersold as a nut”: Eisenbud OH, p. 19.

1
The waiting room: Description of clinic and experiment performed on Helen Hutchison taken from Hutchison’s medical records and numerous author interviews conducted with Hutchison between 1994 and 1998.

2
“an energetic and competent”: C. S. Robinson to E. W. Goodpasture, May 9, 1946, Kittrell personal papers.

3
protege of Stafford Warren’s: Hahn application, Tennessee State Department of Public Health, Dec. 1, 1943, Kittrell personal papers.

4
largest number of radioisotope: AEC press release, “Background Material on Activity in First Year of Distribution of Pile-Produced Radioisotopes,” Aug. 3, 1947, p. 8.

5
“There were signs”: Nancy Humphrey, “Darby Recalls His Life’s Work Improving Human Nutrition,”
VUMC Reporter,
Jan. 14, 1994.

6
simple and straightforward: Hahn et al., “Iron Metabolism in Human Pregnancy,”
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
pp. 478–486; “Flow Sheet for Nutrition Study of New White Patients,” Sept. 4, 1945, Kittrell papers.

7
“drinks as cocktails”: Darby dep., May 20, 1994, Kittrell papers, p. 244.

8
“he was certain”: Keith Schneider, “Scientists Are Sharing the Anguish Over Nuclear Experiments,”
NYT,
March 2, 1994, p. A-9.

9
“We did not decide”: Darby dep., p. 235.

10
no therapeutic purpose: Ibid., p. 283.

11
“In fact, it”: Ibid., p. 427.

12
“discussed isotopes”: Excerpt, Stafford Warren diary, Oct. 28, 1945, Kittrell personal papers.

13
“while a recent supply”: Press release, Vanderbilt University News Office, Dec. 13, 1946.

14
“considerable radiation”: Edgar J. Murphy to J. C. Stewart, Nov. 18, 1947, Kittrell personal papers.

15
“Radioactive iron regardless”: Hahn to Zaven M. Seron, Feb. 17, 1947, in Donald C. Arbitblit statement to ACHRE, Oct. 12, 1994.

16
“must not be too long”: Hahn and C. W. Sheppard, “Therapeutic Use of Radioactive Elements,”
Annals of Internal Medicine,
pp. 598–606.

17
“What is it that you”: Emma Craft videotaped deposition, Sept. 13, 1994. Unless otherwise specified, details and quotes involving Craft’s case taken from videotaped deposition.

18
“They had to carry me”: Int. Emma Craft, July 10, 1996.

19
The research community: Stewart, Webb, and Hewett, “Survey of Childhood Malignancies,”
British Medical Journal,
pp. 1495–1508.

20
An independent study: MacMahon, “Prenatal X-Ray Exposure,”
Journal of the National Cancer Institute,
pp. 1173–1191.

21
“Ruth Hagstrom did”: Int. A. Bertrand Brill, July 14, 1996.

22
“He helped to find”: Ibid.

23
mothers were informed: Schneider, “Scientists Are Sharing.”

24
“This lady called”: Int. Helen Hutchison, Sept. 17, 1994.

25
“I filled it out”: Craft dep.

26
“You may remember”: Ruth Hagstrom to [name deleted], Jan. 29, 1965, Arbitblit statement, Oct. 12, 1994.

27
“suggests a cause”: Hagstrom et al., “Long Term Effects of Radioactive Iron,”
Journal of Epidemiology,
pp. 1–10.

1
“He molested me”: Int. Gordon Shattuck, May 29, 1996. Description of daily life at Fernald also have been compiled from interviews with Austin La-Rocque, May 24, 1996; Charles Dyer, May 29, 1996; Albert Gagne, May 29, 1996.

2
divided into “idiots”: Wallace,
History of the Walter E. Fernald,
p. 108.

3
seventy-four Fernald boys: Int. Doe West, May 27, 1996.

4
first permanent school: Wallace,
History of the Walter E. Fernald,
p. 27.

5
Florence Nightingale: Ibid., p. 4.

6
His wife was Julia: Chip Brown, “The Science Club Serves Its Country,”
Esquire,
December 1994, p. 124.

7
Edward W. Emerson: Wallace,
History of the Walter E. Fernald,
p. 97.

8
“The social and economic”: Clarke and Clarke,
Mental Deficiency,
p. 16.

9
“deviants and defects”: Int. Doe West.

10
“zoo”: Ibid.

11
air-conditioning repairmen: Account taken from letters and undated newspaper clippings received from James Brasco, of the Brasco & Sons Memorial Chapel in Waltham, which buried the heads; undated document entitled “Fernald School Specimens,” received from Sandra Marlow.

12
Many human experiments: “A Listing of Some of The ‘Non-Radioactive’ Studies Found,” n.d., Marlow personal papers.

13
“moribund gargoyle patient”: Bronner et al., “Calcium Metabolism in a Case of Gargoylism,”
Journal of Clinical Investigation,
pp. 139–147.

14
“hot spots”: Evans to Aebersold, March 1949, in Task Force on Human Subject Research,
Research that Involved Residents of State-Operated Facilities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
p. B-2/A.

15
“additional studies”: Rand Sunshine Project, Dec. 16–18, 1953, DOE archives, p. 35.

16
“potentially coercive factor”: Task Force,
Research that Involved Residents of State-Operated Facilities,
p. 28.

17
“In previous years”: Clemens Benda to [parent’s name deleted], May 28, 1953, Ibid., p. B-23.

1
afternoon of September 3: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 363.

2
One filter paper: Halberstam,
The Fifties,
p. 25.

3
“Keep your shirt on”: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 369.

4
including Leslie Groves: Nichols,
Road to Trinity,
p. 272.

5
“weapon of genocide”: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 384.

6
“necessarily an evil thing”: Ibid.

7
“hydrogen bombs by the thousands”: Shelton,
Reflections of a Nuclear Weaponeer,
p. 6–2.

8
President Truman reluctantly: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 408.

9
three men had helped: Halberstam,
The Fifties,
p. 46.

10
“Will that include”: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 532.

11
on St. Patrick’s Day: Biographical sketch, James P. Cooney, Department of the Army, Center of Military History, Washington, D.C.

12
Japanese were not prepared: “General Minimizes Fear of Atom Bomb Effects,” undated newspaper clipping, James Cooney Jr. personal papers.

13
Hoover dropped him: J. Edgar Hoover to James P. Cooney, May 4, 1949, Cooney Jr. personal papers.

14
“He was a wonderful”: Int. Charles Gingles, May 2, 1995.

15
Huge blisters appeared: Hacker,
Elements of Controversy,
p. 34.

16
psychological training: Cooney, “Psychological Factors in Atomic Warfare,” Speech before the American Public Health Association, Boston, MA, Nov. 12, 1948, DOE archives.

17
“An Irishman is no good”: NEPA Medical Advisory Panel Subcommittee No. II, “An Evaluation of the Psychological Problem of Crew Selection Relative to the Special Hazards of Irradiation Exposure,” July 22, 1949, ACHRE, p. 11.

18
“I have observed”: Cooney, “Psychological Factors.”

19
Soviets might try: AP, “U.S. Planned for Soviet Siege of Nuclear Test Site,”
AT,
Aug. 23, 1995, p. A-7.

20
“study called Nutmeg”: Director of Military Application, “Selection of a Continental Atomic Test Site,” Dec. 13, 1950, DOE archives.

21
“A good place to throw”: Rosenberg,
Atomic Soldiers,
p. 17.

22
thriving ecosystem: Goin,
Nuclear Landscapes,
pp. 17–18.

23
atomic tests could be justified: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 535.

24
statesmen of the Manhattan: Frederick Reines, “Discussion of Radiological Hazards Associated with a Continental Test Site for Atomic Bombs,” Sept. 1, 1950 (LAMS-1173), DOE archives.

25
“serious oversight”: Udall, “Memorandum of Conversation with Shields Warren,” July 5, 1979, Udall papers.

26
“omitting insofar as possible”: Reines report, p. 5.

27
“generally accepted”: Ibid., p. 6.

28
“quite wrong”: Udall, “Memorandum of Conversation.”

29
“one would have to ingest”: Reines report, p. 7.

30
“unduly alarming miners”: Bale to Files, “Measurements of Air-borne Radioactivity in a Colorado Plateau Uranium Mine,” July 17, 1951, Udall papers.

31
“It should be emphasized”: S. T. Cantril, “Biological Bases for Maximum Permissible Exposures,”
Industrial Medicine,
p. 54.

32
“Even the lightest type”: Bale to James Cooney, “Relative Dosage from Beta and Gamma Radiation to Individuals Exposed to Fission Product Fall-Out Following A-Bomb Detonation,” Aug. 22, 1950, Appendix II, Reines report, p. 4.

33
“people will receive”: Reines report, p. 23.

34
Enrico Fermi wanted: Ibid., p. 21.

35
“make the atom routine”: Hacker,
Elements of Controversy,
p. 43.

36
Two series of atmospheric tests: Dates compiled from DNA reports and numerous interviews with scientist William Jay Brady

37
“sunburns”: Udall,
Myths of August,
p. 227.