The Plutonium Files (82 page)

6
“My two great loves”: Rhodes,
Making of the Atomic Bomb,
p. 451.

7
Oppenheimer wanted John Lawrence: Hacker,
Dragons Tail,
p. 59.

8
his duties would be: Ibid.

9
Until enough housing: Hawkins,
Project Y,
p. 9.

10
packed up his belongings: Hempelmann dep., p. 5.

11
“He was my first paying boss”: Fermi,
Atoms in the Family,
p. 228.

12
“Nobody could think straight”: Wyden,
Day One,
p. 95.

13
“rather odd orders”: Friedell OH, DOE/OHRE, pp. 20–22. 60 “He thinks I’m the world’s”: Friedell OH, JNS, p. 31.

14
the executive officer: Nichols,
Road to Trinity,
p. 122.

15
“You’re too young”: Friedell OH, JNS, p. 5.

16
“General Groves was”: Stone to Compton, Feb. 15, 1943, University of Washington Manuscripts and University Archives Division, Herbert M. Parker papers, Accession No. 3616, Box 5, Robert Stone folder.

17
wearing combat boots: Weisgall,
Operation Crossroads,
p. 208.

18
“She was very anemic”: Stafford Warren OH, p. 358.

19
In a 1937 paper: Stafford Warren et al., “Artificially Induced Fever,”
JAMA,
pp. 1430–1435.

20
twenty-two year-old boxer: Ibid., p. 1433.

21
“Why do you want”: Nichols,
Road to Trinity,
p. 123.

22
“Of course, the colored people”: Stafford Warren OH, pp. 679–680.

23
“My rule was simple”: Groves,
Now It Can Be Told,
p. 140.

24
“When the general decided”: Friedell OH, JNS, p. 1.

25
“He thought we had some special”: Ibid., p. 5.

26
“We wouldn’t go and say”: Ibid., pp. 1–2.

27
“The rest of the places”: Friedell OH, ACHRE, pp. 30–31.

28
“We didn’t know what to do”: Stafford Warren OH, p. 965–966.

1
“stand-in” isotopes: Hawkins,
Project Y,
p. 72.

2
“You’re going to have grams”: Gofman OH, p. 12.

3
“After about three weeks”: Ibid., pp. 12–13.

4
published a follow-up study: Evans, “Protection of Radium Dial Workers,”
Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology,
pp. 253–269.

5
“first bullet of a repeating gun”: Ibid., p. 254.

6
With proper precautions: Ibid., p. 257.

7
“quite likely”: Int. Glenn Seaborg, Aug. 10, 1998.

8
two milligrams of plutonium: LANL,
Radiation Protection,
p. 182.

9
“It was only when the plutonium appeared”: Seaborg OH, p. 3.

10
“It has occurred to me”: Glenn Seaborg to Stone, “Physiological Hazards of Working with Plutonium,” Jan. 5, 1944 (CIC 708058).

11
“Oh, God, no”: Welsome, “Plutonium Experiment,” p. 17.

12
“We were working” Int. Seaborg, Aug. 10, 1998.

13
“The question of tracer studies”: Stone to Seaborg, “Health Hazards of Working with Plutonium,” Jan. 8, 1944 (CIC 708278).

14
first milligram amounts: A. V. Peterson to Compton, “X-49 Deliveries,” Jan. 29, 1944, Bill Moss personal papers.

15
“poisonous nature of product”: “Project Council—Policy Meeting,” Jan. 19, 1944 (CS-1262), p. 4.

16
“potentially extremely poisonous”: Ibid.

17
Hamilton received eleven milligrams: Hamilton, “Metabolism of Product,” Report for Period Ending Oct. 15, 1944 (CIC 180070), p. 3.

18
approved by J. Robert Oppenheimer: “X-49 Deliveries.”

19
Luminous Paint Company: Hempelmann, “History of the Health Group (A-6), March 1943–November 1945,” p. 5.

20
“We were always very careful”: Evans OH, AIP, p. 99.

21
floors and walls: Evans, “Protection of Radium Dial Workers.”

22
“conscientious objectors”: Evans to Joseph Howland, Oct. 28, 1944, DOE-OR (1017).

23
Before the vial: Nichols,
Road to Trinity,
pp. 133–134.

24
“scientists were individualists”: Hempelmann dep., p. 46.

25
“Unfortunately, the more scholarly”: Ibid., p. 61.

26
“very high counts”: Chemistry and Metallurgical Division, “Health and Safety Report,” July 1944 (LAMS-119), p. 4.

27
“She was well endowed”: Shipman, “H Division Activities,” May 6, 1969 (LANL-HSPT-94–108), p. 6.

28
1,578 … 40,000: “Health and Safety Report,” pp. 2–3.

29
“infinite”: Hempelmann dep., p. 62.

30
workers’ respirators: “Health and Safety Report,” p. 2.

31
fifty counts per minute: Hempelmann dep., p. 37.

32
“The lack of records”: Hempelmann, “History of the Health Group (A-6), March 1943–November 1945,” p. 15.

33
“Mr. Oppenheimer, I believe”: J. F. Mullaney to Norris Bradbury, “Report by J. G. Hoffman on Biological Effects of July 16th Explosion,” Jan. 3, 1946, LANL.

34
“I realize that analogies”: Hamilton to Stone, “[More?]Concerning Accidental Introduction of Product into the Body by Way of Penetrating [illegible],” May 5, 1944, LANL.

35
received fifty-one grams: Oppenheimer to Groves, Aug. 31, 1944, Moss personal papers.

36
metallurgist was exposed: Moss OH, pp. 7–8.

37
plutonium in powder form: R. A. Popham to Hempelmann, “Accident in Room D-101,” Aug. 22, 1944 (CIC 90514).

38
An open beaker: Popham to Hempelmann, “Accident in Room D-117,” Aug. 30, 1944 (CIC 90515).

39
D Building was: LANL,
Radiation Protection,
p. 130.

40
“As has been anticipated”: Hempelmann, “Health Report,” Aug. 30, 1944 (LANL-HSPT-94–237), p. 2.

41
“A great deal of concern”: Hempelmann to Oppenheimer, “Health Hazards Related to Plutonium,” Aug. 16, 1944, LANL.

42
“It would not seem out of place”: Ibid.

43
“As for the biological sides”: Oppenheimer to Hempelmann, “Your memorandum of Aug. 16, 1944,” Aug. 16, 1944, LANL, p. 1.

44
“not equipped for biological experiments”: Oppenheimer to Compton, Feb. 11, 1944, telegram, ACHRE.

45
1,500 … 8,200: Truslow,
Manhattan District History,
p. 101.

46
The project was to have: Hempelmann to Oppenheimer, “Medical Research Program,” Aug. 29, 1944, LANL, p. 1.

47
contamination-free laboratory: Hempelmann, “History of the Health Group,” p. 8.

48
“They were just frightfully high”: Hempelmann dep., p. 34.

49
“It was not until the first human tracer”: Hempelmann, “History of the Health Group,” p. 8.

1
“I used him for my ‘crying wall’ ”: Stafford Warren OH, p. 793.

2
fix a flat tire: Friedell OH, DOE/OHRE, p. 34.

3
the first kilogram amounts: Nichols,
Road to Trinity,
p. 141.

4
transported by Army ambulances: Groueff,
Manhattan Project,
p. 311.

5
“if it had not been”: Hempelmann dep., p. 39.

6
Los Alamos and Pueblo creeks: W. H. Hinch to Hempelmann, “Report on the Contamination of Creek Water,” Oct. 15, 1945 (LANL HSPT-94–201), p. 4.

7
144,000 disintegrations per minute: Ibid.

8
“It’s quite possible”: Hempelmann to R. C. Hill, July 1, 1947 (LANL-HSPT-94–205), p. 2.

9
“Everybody had his own”: Shipman, “H Division Activities,” May 6, 1969, p. 12.

10
Scientists detected plutonium: Hinch, “Report on the Contamination of Creek Water,” p. 4.

11
“In conjunction with”: Hymer Friedell, “Program for Product Research 5 December 1944,” Jan. 19, 1945, DOE-OR (1006).

12
On Friday, March 23: Hempelmann to Oppenheimer, “Meeting of Chemistry Division and Medical Group,” March 26, 1945, LANL, p. 1.

13
“occasionally” dropped in: Friedell OH, DOE/OHRE, p. 34.

14
lab was not getting: Hempelmann, “History of the Health Group (A-6), March 1943–November 1945,” p. 2.

15
“wasn’t terribly enthusiastic”: Friedell OH, DOE/OHRE, p. 35.

16
“Now my own recollection”: Ibid., p. 34.

17
Born in Winsburro: Wright Haskell Langham, “Biographical Data,” LANL.

18
“ingenious studies”: Hempelmann, “Obituary—Wright Langham,”
Radiation Research,
pp. 419–421.

19
“He came over”: Hempelmann dep., p. 54.

20
“underlying gentleness”: Hempelmann, “Obituary—Wright Langham,” p. 420.

21
thirty times
more
hazardous: Nickson, ed., “Report of Conference on Plutonium,” p. 47.

22
“radio-sensitive bone marrow”: Hamilton, “A Report of the Past, Present, and Future Research Activities for Project 48-A-1,” n.d., ACHRE.

23
It is suggested “: Hempelmann to Oppenheimer, Meeting of Chemistry Division and Medical Group,” March 26, 1945, LANL, p. 1.

24
“I should like to add”: Oppenheimer to Stafford Warren, March 29, 1945, LANL.

25
having prostate surgery: Friedell OH, ACHRE, p. 39.

26
“primarily responsible”: Langham et al.,
Distribution and Excretion of Plutonium,
p. 2.

27
“Tracer experiments on humans”: Stafford Warren, Memorandum for the Files, “Medical Experimental Program on Radium and Product,” Dec. 2, 1944, Carton 5, Folder 9, JHG.

28
“not the kind of thing”: John Lansdale, letter to author, June 24, 1995.

29
“I think he was”: Friedell OH, DOE/OHRE, p. 37. During his oral history interview, Friedell seemed unsure about Groves’s involvement, but at a meeting in San Francisco several months earlier, he told that same interviewer that he was fairly certain that Groves was aware of the plan to test plutonium in humans.

1
soft-spoken man: Int. Pauline Jones, March 10, 1996; int. Mary Frances Cade Derr, May 21, 1996.

2
left eye was completely blind: “Experiment 1 on p. 49 + 4,” DOE-OR (1003).

3
About 6:30: Wilson O. Edmonds to Jon Anderson, “Memorandum Report,” July 15, 1974 (CIC 701184), p. 2.

4
bustling facility: Stafford Warren, “The Role of Radiology in the Development of the Atomic Bomb,” p. 874.

5
Ebb’s nose and lip: “Experiment 1.”

6
Smith, was hospitalized: “Memorandum Report,” p. 2.

7
“completely obliterated”: “Experiment 1.”

8
“He was a well developed”: Ibid.

9
second set of instructions: Wright Langham to Friedell, April 6, 1945 (ACHRE No. DOE-120894-E1).

10
“My experience has been”: Ibid., p. 1.

11
“you may have a better idea”: Ibid., p. 2.

12
“care was taken to avoid leakage”: “Experiment 1.”

13
five times the amount: Langham to Friedell, May 21, 1945, ACHRE, p. 1.

14
dose equal to eighty: LANL,
Radiation Protection,
p. 209.

15
“Everything went smoothly”: Friedell to Hempelmann, April 11, 1945 (ACHRE No. DOE-121294-D-1), p. 1.

16
he did it under protest: Walter Weyzen, “Visit with Dr. Joe Howland, Chapel Hill Holiday Inn,” April 24, 1974, FOIA.

17
“Interviewer: Were you there”: Friedell OH, ACHRE, pp. 49–50.

18
suffered a nervous breakdown: Howland, “Experience in Nuclear Medicine,” n.d., p. 3.

19
“a command performance”: Ibid., p. 2.

20
“Holland: One other thing”: Transcript of telephone conversation, Jan. 9, 1948 (ACHRE No. DOE-120894-E-63). Another document that supports Howland’s version of the story is a Feb. 18, 1947, letter from Andrew Dowdy, the director of Rochester’s Manhattan Annex, to Friedell. In that letter Dowdy states: “It is my understanding that it was your idea [the Oak Ridge injection] and that Major Howland and Captain Goldring were the two who actually carried out the administration.”

21
“The subject was”: Langham, “Report of Talk Given at the Chicago Meeting,” July 30, 1947, p. 7.

22
“This presumably would produce”: Ibid.

23
332 counts per minute: Ibid., p. 12.

24
2.2 counts: Ibid., p. 11.

25
“than with rats”: Ibid., p. 7.

26
experiment was flawed: “Experiment 1,” p. 3.

27
Fifteen of Ebb’s teeth: David Goldring to Langham, Sept. 19, 1945, FOIA.

28
“He was just moaning”: Int. Lawrence Suchow, March 30, 1994.

29
“is at a loss”: Bill Clarkson to Friedell, “Request for Possible Information on Case of Jesse Smith,” April 25, 1947, ACHRE.

30
“Joe Howland actually”: Friedell to Clarkson, April 28, 1947, Elmerine Allen Whitfield personal papers.

1
As a young man: Int. Velin Hubbard Hughes, Jan. 5, 1998; int. B. L. Guess, Jan. 6, 1998; Rita Delmar correspondence to author.

2
“hen’s egg”: R. C. Weber, “Autopsy Report,” Oct. 3, 1945, Hubbard m.r., p. 5.

3
“We knew they”: Int. B. L. Guess.

4
“seven different plastic”: Weber, “Autopsy Report,” p. 5. 89 dose equal to 120 times: LANL,
Radiation Protection,
p. 209.

5
“seal-fast” cardboard: Russell and Nickson,
Distribution and Excretion of Plutonium,
p. 2.

6
“Since people were of necessity”: Ibid., p. 1.

7
“to undertake, on a limited scale”: Hamilton to Compton, Jan. 11, 1945 (LANL-HSPT-94–375), p. 2.

8
“clinical material”: Hamilton to Col. E. B. Kelly, “Summary of Research Program for Contract #W-7405-eng-48-A,” Aug. 28, 1946, DOE-OR (1008), p. 2.