Read The Plutonium Files Online
Authors: Eileen Welsome
10
“I have a certain feeling”: Robert McConnell, n.d., ES.
11
“The project is validly”: Cong. hearing,
Experiments Conducted by the University of Cincinnati,
p. 247.
12
“I read for about an hour”: Stephens, “A Tragic and Terrible Tale,”
CE,
Feb. 16, 1994.
13
“Is it conceivable”: Junior Faculty Association, “A Report to the Campus Community,” Jan. 25, 1972, p. 3.
14
nineteen of the patients: “Suskind Report,” Jan. 1972, ES, p. 65.
15
fraught with conflicts: Lew Moores, “Suskind Comm.—Conflict of Interest?”
University of Cincinnati News Record,
Feb. 11, 1972, n.p., ES.
16
“Could one be led”: Editorial, “The Suskind Committee,”
News Record,
n.d., ES.
17
“Can this (psychological harm)”: Tim Bonfield, “Radiation: Legal Strategy Revealed,”
CE,
May 21, 1994, p. B-1.
18
“This is a personal impression”: Saenger, “An interview with Dr. Silberstein and Mr. Motter
[sic]
and Dr. Caper representing Senator Kennedy,” ES, p. 7.
19
“I might remind you”: Transcript of interview with “J.D,” Jan. 3, 1971, ES.
20
“Senator Taft just went”: Paul Barton and Howard Wilkinson, “Ex-aide: Taft Blocked UC Probe,”
CE,
Feb. 9, 1994, p. B-1.
21
She bundled up: Int. Martha Stephens, June 15, 1994.
22
“There are two”: Saenger, “Radiation Casualities,”
New York State Journal of Medicine,
pp. 309–314.
23
“could be walking around”: Jan Goodwin, “67 Ex-convicts, Who Volunteered for Useless Radiation Experiments, Could Now Be Unknowing Victims of Cancer,”
National Enquirer,
Oct. 21, 1975, n.p.
24
“It helped in genetic”: Hal Waltz, “Radiation Meeting,” Nov. 21, 1975, HB.
25
“heightened the emotionalism”: Ibid.
26
“What was the primary”: Rowley-Heller joint dep., p. 17.
27
Later in the deposition: Ibid., p. 32.
28
Finally Hilgemann asked: Ibid., p. 53.
29
Heller swallowed a Benadryl: Excerpt from nursing log, July 19, 1976, Meta Heller personal papers.
30
Arthur Kranish, the editor: Debra D. Durocher, “Radiation Redux,”
AJR,
March 1994, pp. 34–37.
31
“less carcinogenic”: Arthur Kranish, “Plutonium Experiment,”
Science Trends,
Feb. 23, 1976, p. 128.
32
“has no plans”: George C. Wilson, “18 Injected in 1945 Plutonium Testing,”
WP,
Feb. 22, 1976, p. 1.
33
“did not come voluntarily”: Maurice H. Thompson, “Humans Injected with Plutonium at Strong,”
RDC,
Feb. 22, 1976, p. 1.
34
“It was like getting”: Todd Ensign and Michael Uhl, “A Victim of the Tests,”
The Progressive,
March 1978, p. 8.
35
“He was a very loyal Marine”: Int. Pat Broudy, May 11, 1998.
36
remarkable hearing on Capitol Hill: Cong. hearing,
Effects of Radiation on Human Health,
1978.
37
“It seems the Army”: Ibid., p. 168.
38
he gathered hundreds: Howard L. Rosenberg, “Informed Consent,”
Mother Jones,
Sept.—Oct. 1981, pp. 31–44.
39
“It took eighteen months”: Durocher, “Radiation Redux.”
40
“Now the critical question,” Cong. hearing,
Human Total Body Irradiation Program at Oak Ridge,
p. 177.
41
“radiobiologically of great interest”: Ibid., p. 269.
42
“It is a provocative”: Ibid., p. 271.
43
“satisfactory, but not perfect”: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 400.
44
The file contained: Clifford Honicker, “The Hidden Files,”
New York Times Magazine,
Nov. 19, 1989, p. 99.
45
Honicker, Sea, and several other: Int. Clifford Honicker, March 25, 1998.
46
“Although these experiments”: Cong. report,
American Nuclear Guinea Pigs,
p. 7.
47
The wire services reduced: Durocher, “Radiation Redux,” p. 35.
48
they knew, for example: John Herrington to Edward Markey, Addendum to letter, Feb. 10, 1987, p. 2.
49
cancer of the larynx: Christine Waterhouse to John Rundo, Dec. 26, 1975, Stadt m.r.
50
“I explained how important”: Gail Knasko to File, “X-ray film for [name deleted], April 18, 1985, Charlton m.r.
51
“I knew he didn’t want”: Welsome, “Plutonium Experiment,” p. 15.
52
Stafford Warren, the architect: Paul Dodd, Introduction to Stafford Warren OH, p. xii.
53
tended an oyster farm: “Obituary—Shields Warren,”
Radiation Research,
1981, p. 434.
1
“We’ve got to do it all”: Hazel R. O’Leary,
Current Biography Yearbook,
1994, pp. 410–414.
2
“Female and black”: Francis Wilkinson, “Power to the People,”
Rolling Stone,
March 24, 1994, p. 33.
3
powerful influences in her life: Int. Hazel O’Leary, Jan. 9, 1997.
4
“thoroughly and severely”: John V. Quarstein and Parke S. Rouse Jr., “Newport News: A Centennial History,”
City of Newport News,
1996, pp. 179–180.
5
“It was because in those days”: Linda Witt, “Balance of Powers,”
San Jose Mercury News, West Magazine,
May 8, 1994, p. 8 ff.
6
“My parents taught”: David Grogan, Linda Witt, and Sarah Skolnik, “Spilling Secrets,”
People,
Jan. 31, 1994, p. 77–78.
7
Stephen Schwartz, a guest: Brookings Institution press release, “Atomic Audit,” June 30, 1998, p. 1.
8
“gravest of problems”: DOE,
Closing the Circle,
p. 8.
9
“… the inheritance” DOE, “Four Years of Changes and Advances,” draft paper, Jan. 7, 1997, p. 3.
10
The last underground bomb, Divider: Int. Jonathan Ventura, March 12, 1997.
11
“She had the courage”: Int. Ray Kidder, Feb. 11, 1997.
12
“I’d characterize it”: Int. Frank von Hippel, Jan. 30, 1997. 423 “The way secrecy”: Int. Jim Werner, Jan. 31, 1997.
13
“I have been”: Int. A. Bryan Siebert, Feb. 3, 1997.
14
“They acted as if”: Ibid.
15
“We were shrouded and clouded”: DOE,
Openness Initiative,
Videotape, Dec. 7, 1993.
16
204 more nuclear bombs: Department of Energy fact sheets, Dec. 7, 1993.
17
“What I’ve read”: DOE,
Openness Initiative.
18
“It’s inconceivable”: Welsome, “Plutonium Experiment,” p. 22.
19
“This was war”: Int. Christine Waterhouse, Feb. 26, 1993.
20
“Edith Charlton. That’s”: Welsome, “Plutonium Experiment,” p. 35.
21
“We didn’t know”: Int. Helen Schultz, June 18, 1993.
22
“She couldn’t understand”: Welsome, “Plutonium Experiment,” p. 35.
23
“I took care of him”: Ibid., p. 41.
24
“You know, that sounds”: Ibid.
25
“Before he was sick”: Ibid., pp. 40–41.
26
“It’s unbelievable”: Ibid., p. 41.
27
“I just have a gut feeling”: Ibid.
28
“I came pretty quickly”: Int. Hazel O’Leary, Jan. 9, 1997.
29
6,000 to 10,000 calls: DOE press release, “Human Radiation Experiments: Chronology of Recent Events,” Jan. 3, 1994.
30
“There was this”: Int. Hazel O’Leary.
1
“It was the trial”: Tim Bonfield, “Life of Achievements, Accusations,”
CE,
March 13, 1994, p. 1.
2
If the relatives had come: Cong. hearing,
Experiments Conducted by the University of Cincinnati,
p. 177.
3
“We have looked”: Ibid., p. 277.
4
“Our work”: Ibid., p. 176.
5
“Would you have done”: Saenger OH, ACHRE, Sept. 15, 1994, p. 52.
6
found it “inconceivable”: Judge Sandra S. Beckwith, Opinion and Order, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Western Division (Case No. C-1–94–126), Jan. 11, 1995, pp. 57–58.
7
Marlow just happened: Int. Sandra Marlow, June 18, 1996.
8
tipped off the Boston Globe: Int. Sandra Marlow, May 21, 1998; Int. Dan Bernstein, June 10, 1998.
9
“I fear that past”: Cong. hearing,
Human Subjects Research,
Jan. 13, 1994, p. 5.
10
“Can I ask”: Ibid., p. 22.
11
“fundamental human rights”: Task Force,
Research that Involved Residents of State-Operated Facilities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
p. 43.
12
“potentially coercive factor”: Ibid., p. 28.
13
“significant health effects”: Ibid., p. 44.
14
“They bribed us”: Transcript, ACHRE hearing, Dec. 16, 1994, p. 87.
15
“It’s unthinkable”: Int. Helen Hutchison, Sept. 17, 1994.
16
“While it would not be”: Keith Schneider, “Scientists Are Sharing the Anguish Over Nuclear Experiments on People,”
NYT,
March 2, 1994, p. 9.
17
“totally unwarranted”: Henry N. Wagner, affidavit, July 11, 1994.
18
“I don’t know”: Int. Ruth Hagstrom, July 14, 1996.
19
“a few tens of millirads”: M.G. Stabin et al., “Review of the Radiation Doses Received by Infants Irradiated in Utero,” draft paper, ORISE, March 2, 1995, p. 10.
20
“All of these cancers”: Roland Finston, “Doses Received by Mothers and Fetuses in the Vanderbilt Radioiron Experiment,” n.d., p. 7.
21
“I knew it explained”: Int. Emma Craft, July 18, 1996.
22
doctors closely monitored: Int. Emma Craft, July 10, 1996.
23
“What I went through”: Craft dep., Sept. 13, 1994.
24
“reasonably find”: John T. Nixon, Memorandum and Order, Aug. 26, 1996, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville (CV No. 3 94–0090).
25
“Something had to be”: Int. Harold Bibeau, May 27, 1998.
26
“I think he even implied”: Int. James Ruttenber, Oct. 25, 1996.
27
“I hope that you will”: Frank Hall to Hazel O’Leary, Jan. 21, 1994, HB.
28
“We were the victims”:
Atomic Veteran’s Newsletter,
Winter 1993, p. 1.
29
8,000 … 2 million: DOD,
Search for Human Radiation Experiment Records,
p. 40.
30
A Dutch researcher: Lawrence Spohn, “Nasal Rods Doubled Risk of Cancer, Study Says,”
AT,
Dec. 16, 1996, p. 1.
31
Cherie Anderson, a California: Ed Asher, “A Lifetime of Hurt,”
AT,
Feb. 7, 1994, p. 1.
32
“A wide-mouthed mayonnaise jar”: Welsome, “Missing Parts,”
AT,
Feb. 12, 1994, p. 5.
33
“The cutting him up”: Ibid.
34
1994 press release: LANL fact sheet, “The Los Alamos Human Tissue Analysis Project,” Feb. 7, 1994.
35
“people did not know”: “Tissue Study Close-Out Meeting,” Aug. 24, 1994, LANL.
36
“This place”: Ed Asher and Dennis Domrzalski, “Body-parts Testing Done Without Knowledge, Consent of Kin,”
AT,
June 10, 1995, p. 11.
37
samples from Karen: Alan C. McMillan to Billie Silkwood, Feb. 18, 1994 (LANL-HSPT-94–107).
38
113 small flasks: McMillan to Silkwood, attachment to letter.
39
“They stole those organs”: Domrzalski and Asher, “Silkwood Dad Still Angry with Lab,”
AT,
Feb. 22, 1994, p. 1.
40
“Since the amount of plutonium present”: McMillan to Silkwood.
41
“They were supposed to”: Int. Bill Silkwood, Oct. 8, 1997.
42
so many aspects: Int. Mary Jeanne Connell, Oct. 24, 1996.
1
“rewrite the history”: Philip J. Hilts, “Study on Tests: Dream Job for Ethicist,”
NYT,
Jan. 30, 1994, p. 15.
2
Both of Faden’s parents: Int. Ruth Faden, Jan. 26, 1995.
3
“There’s nothing more terrifying”: Ibid.
4
estimated 6 million pages: Human Radiation Interagency Working Group,
Building Public Trust,
1997, p. 3.
5
“had done little”: Karen MacPherson, “GAO: Not All Radiation Victims Will Be ID’d,”
AT,
Dec. 1, 1994, p. 1.
6
“We have to look”: Int. Ruth Faden.
7
“Totally draining”: Ibid.
1
described as “surrealistic”: Transcript, ACHRE meeting, Nov. 14, 1994, p. 163.
2
eighty-four Eskimos: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 598.
3
“The only thing we knew”: Transcript, ACHRE meeting, April 10–12, 1995, p. 96.
4
“I was thrown”: Transcript, ACHRE meeting, Oct. 11–13, 1994, p. 215.
5
Darcy Thrall, born and raised: Ibid., pp. 331–349.
6
“None of the more”: J. F. Honstead, “A Program for Evaluating Environmental Radiation Dose to Children” (BNWL-SA 1288), n.d., p. 7.
7
“I had a great”: Transcript, ACHRE meeting, Oct. 11–13, 1994, p. 336.
8
“I believe my father”: Transcript, ACHRE meeting, Oct. 21, 1994, p.
9
“Will someone please”: Ibid., pp. 25–26.
10
“just a dumb hillbilly”: Ibid., p. 107.
11
“I did my country wrong”: Ibid., p. 104.
12
Gene Branham, a union: Ibid., pp. 176–184.
13
Gertie Hanson, who grew: Transcript, ACHRE meeting, Nov. 21, 1994, p. 35.
14
“We assumed that these”: Ibid., p. 286.