The Plutonium Files (85 page)

17
“I felt they might be”: Ibid., p. 886.

18
threw their scientific notebooks: Bradley,
No Place to Hide,
pp. 5–6.

19
“A little eggshell of coral”: Ibid., p. 11.

20
42,000 men … 242 ships: Dennis Domrzalski, “Deadly Cleanup,”
AT,
April 26, 1994, p. C-1.

21
“Through the glasses”: Stafford Warren OH, p. 904.

22
boats were recovering: Weisgall,
Operation Crossroads,
p. 228.

23
“They might have passed”: Stafford Warren OH, p. 909.

24
“Our cook had never been”: Ibid., p. 934.

25
“Since they couldn’t taste”: Stafford Warren to Viola Warren, Aug. 11, 1946 (CIC 140498).

26
“You could just feel”: Stafford Warren OH, pp. 909–910.

27
“reassure Col. Warren”: R. R. Newell, “Report of the Medico-Legal Board,” June 8, 1946, Pat Broudy personal papers.

28
0.1 roentgen per day: Stafford Warren to Commander, Joint Task Force One, “Review of Radiological Safety Situation,” Aug. 3, 1946, Broudy papers, p. 2.

29
“insidiously toxic”: Stafford Warren to Commander, Joint Task Force One, “Occupancy of Target Vessels as Influenced by Intensity of Radiation of Various Types on Target Vessels,” Aug. 7, 1946, Broudy papers, p. 2.

30
“The majority of personnel”: Stafford Warren, “Radiological Safety Situation,” p. 3.

31
“We worked there”: Dennis Domrzalski, “One Family’s Agony,”
AT,
April 28, 1994, p. C-2.

32
“Mac, that’s hot”: Domrzalski, “Diver Probed Depths of Radioactive Cesspool,”
AT,
April 27, 1994, p. C-1.

33
“It was often a matter”: Domrzalski, “In Harm’s Way,” ibid.

34
“They checked our clothing”: Domrzalski, “Sailor Spent Two Weeks on Contaminated Ship,” ibid.

35
a decade later: Stafford Warren to Ralph B. Snavely, Aug. 2, 1957, Stewart Udall personal papers.

36
“Boxes, mattresses, life belts”: Bradley,
No Place to Hide,
p. 74.

37
“That is part”: Cong. hearing,
Atomic Energy,
1945, p. 46.

38
“national suicide”: Ibid., p. 49.

39
“We cannot shut down”: Ibid., p. 47.

40
“For I was no longer”: Groves,
Now It Can Be Told,
p. 391.

41
“The whole purpose”: Ibid., p. 400.

1
other talks were: Stafford Warren to Groves, “Clearance of ‘Discussion on product contamination after underwater bomb detonation,’ during part of informal talks on safety at Bikini,” Oct. 9, 1946, Broudy personal papers, p. 1.

2
“is probably the most toxic”: Ibid., p. 2.

3
“Soon the number of bombs”: Stafford Warren, Transcript of Lecture, Oct. 7, 1946, Broudy papers, p. 27.

4
“You need only”: Ibid., pp. 21–22.

5
“It has recently come to my attention:” Don Mastick to Hempelmann, June 6, 1947, ACHRE.

6
“You know Staff”: Hempelmann to Mastick, July 23, 1947, ACHRE.

7
three years and two days: Stafford Warren OH, p. 999.

8
start-up medical school faculty: Ibid., p. 1085.

9
“They were afraid”: Ibid., p. 1089.

10
“extremely
low morale”: LeRoy G. Augenstine, “Report of Visit to UCLA,” Trip Report, March 19, 1959, ACHRE, p. 1.

11
Under an AEC contract: Paul Lavik to Norma Shinn, “Summary of Research Activities Under USAEC Contract No. W31–109-eng-78,” Oct. 30, 1961, Case Western Reserve University, University Archives.

12
“He wasn’t about”: Stafford Warren OH, pp. 928–929.

13
He believed Warren: Udall, “Memorandum of telephone conversation with Pete Scoville,” Feb. 21, 1979, Udall papers.

14
“He was tremendously”: Int. James P. Cooney Jr., April 27, 1995.

15
“walker in the corridors”: Int. Patricia Durbin, Sept. 3, 1992.

16
“One of the principal strategic uses”: Hamilton to Nichols, “Radioactive Warfare,” Dec. 31, 1946, ACHRE, p. 6.

17
plane tracking the radioactive: Hamilton to [address deleted], March 27, 1951, Box 32, Folder 21, JGH.

18
According to the Clinton: ACHRE,
Final Report,
pp. 518–524.

19
“The technical developments”: Cong. hearing,
Investigation into the Atomic Energy Project,
July 6, 1949, p. 774.

20
“With the lifting of security”: James Nolan, “History of Health Group During Interim Period (November 1945–May 1946)” (LANL HSPT-94–104), p. 2.

21
“milk route”: Ibid., p. 3.

22
Slotin was an intense-looking: Jungk,
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns,
p.

23
“Keep doing that”: Weisgall,
Operation Crossroads,
p. 138.

24
some forty times before: Stewart Alsop and Ralph E. Lapp, “The Strange Death of Louis Slotin,”
Saturday Evening Post,
March 6, 1954, p. 90.

25
hollow beryllium hemisphere: Roy Reider to D. F. Hayes, Nov. 16, 1955, enclosure (LAMD-1387).

26
“You can guess the rest”: Norris Bradbury to Marshall and Roger, May 23, 1946, LANL, p. 1.

27
800 roentgens: “Part I, Estimate of Radiation Dosage in Nuclear Accident, May 21, 1946,” LANL.

28
“This is not because”: Alvin Graves to Stewart Alsop, Dec. 3, 1953, Rick Ray personal papers, p. 2.

29
“When we were alone together”: Ibid., p. 3.

30
“Nothing could be done”: J. Garrot Allen, “Death Will Be Slow Agony for Victims,”
LAT,
n.d., Ray personal papers.

31
pair of opera glasses: Major Sidney Newburger Jr., “Possessions of Louis Slotin,” June 5, 1946, LANL.

32
Alvin Graves suffered from nausea: “Clinical Histories of Alvin Graves, Allan Kline and Theodore Perlman,” LANL, pp. 2–3.

33
“concocted in the minds”: Udall,
Myths of August,
p. 243.

34
“cut finger not requiring”: Graves, “Radiation Exposures,” n.d., Udall papers, p. 2.

35
Allan Kline, who was standing: “Clinical Histories.”

36
took a radically different: Clifford T. Honicker, “The Hidden Files,”
New York Times Magazine,
Nov. 19, 1989, p. 98.

37
physician was J. J. Nickson: “Abstract of History of Allan Kline taken from records of Argonne National Laboratory,” n.d., LANL.

38
“unusually shabby treatment”: Paul Stickler to Brien McMahon, Aug. 15, 1949, ACHRE, p. 2.

39
“I was actually used”: Allan Kline, “Estimated Damages to S. Allan Kline Resulting from Radiation Accident at Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1946,” enclosure to Stickler letter, ACHRE.

40
Hempelmann carefully collected: “Meeting of the Biological and Medical Committee,” Dec. 8, 1950, ACHRE, pp. 9–15.

1
stroke of midnight: Hewlett and Duncan,
Atomic Shield,
p. 18.

2
“The first paragraph”: Nichols to the Area Engineer, “Administration of Radioactive Substances to Human Subjects,” Dec. 24, 1946, DOE-OR (No. 1009).

3
“suitable solutions”: Hamilton, “Progress Report for the Month of November 1946,” UCSF,
Addendum to the February 1995 Report,
Appendix 4.

4
“Until the Atomic Energy Commission”: E. E. Kirkpatrick to Area Engineer, “Administration of Radioactive Substances to Human Subjects,” Jan. 8, 1947 (CIC No. 707075).

5
“In the American army”: “The Brutalities of Nazi Physicians,”
JAMA,
pp. 714–715.

6
“doubts were expressed”: Sidney Marks, “Patients Injected with Plutonium (Chronology),” n.d., FOIA.

7
“It is the opinion”: Stafford Warren to Carroll Wilson, Jan. 30, 1947, DOE-OR.

8
Al Capone: AEC press release, “Former Secret Service Chief Names Security Consultant to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission,” Jan. 25, 1947.

9
“should be susceptible”: Wilson to Stafford Warren, April 30, 1947, DOE-OR, p. 2.

10
guidelines to be circulated: Robert J. Buettner to B. M. Brundage, May 12, 1947, DOE-OR.

11
“The atmosphere of secrecy”: Wilson to Stone, Nov. 5, 1947 (ACHRE No. DOE-052295-A-1).

12
earliest known use: ACHRE,
Final Report,
p. 90.

13
“Maybe it means”: Int. Ruth Faden, April 11, 1997.

14
“inconceivable that [Wilson]”: Int. Joseph Volpe, May 21, 1997.

15
“There are a large number”: “Medical Policy,” Oct. 8, 1947 (CIC 707132), p. 8.

16
“This document appears”: “Excerpts from statements of reviewers,” n.d. (ACHRE No. 113094-B-9).

17
“It would be unwise”: Brundage to Declassification Section, “Clearance of Technical Documents,” March 19, 1947 (CIC 712320).

18
“attitude taken by the AEC”: Bassett to Stafford Warren, Sept. 12, 1947 (CIC 724059).

19
“I make this suggestion”: Andrew Dowdy to Bradbarry
[sic],
Feb. 18, 1947 (ACHRE No. DOE-121294-D-6).

20
“It is desired”: O. G. Haywood Jr. to Dr. Fidler, “Medical Experiments on Humans,” April 17, 1947 (CIC 703001).

1
“People more alert”: quoted in John Z. Bowers, “The ABCC: Its Creation and First Years (1946–1952),” unpublished manuscript, p. 19. The diary that Bowers is quoting from is apparently Shield Warren’s red diary dated April 21, 1947, to June 8, 1947. Warren’s diaries and papers are in the Special Collections section of the Mugar Memorial Library at Boston University. That diary is listed in a logbook but not among the diaries in Box 3 of the collection. Also missing is a gray book, dated September 16, 1945, to December 29, 1945, the period covering Warren’s first Japan trip, and a gray Crossroads book dated May 19, 1946, to August 17, 1946. BU archivists said the collection represents what was donated to the library by Warren’s family. They have no explanation for the absent diaries.

2
“compulsive zeal”: Ibid., p. 60.

3
“Stoicism of Japanese”: Ibid., p. 33.

4
“told me that I had”: Shields Warren OH, p. 59.

5
“There were so many opportunities”: National Library of Medicine,
Shields Warren,
Videotape, 1974.

6
“gentle stammer”: Int. William McDermott, May 18, 1995.

7
lymphatic system: Shields Warren obituary,
The Annual Obituary,
1980, p. 395.

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

9
no-danger chorus: Divine,
Blowing on the Wind,
p. 134.

10
“He was a god”: Int. Clarence Lushbaugh, March 3, 1995.

11
“I considered him”: Int. John Pickering, Sept. 28, 1995.

12
“I was never quite sure”: Andrews OH, Dec. 3, 1994, p. 36.

13
“was too swift”: Int. Herman Wigodsky, June 2, 1995.

14
“kind of a turkey”: Pace OH, p. 9.

15
“You must realize”: Udall, “Memorandum of Conversation with Dr. Shields Warren,” July 11, 1979, Udall papers.

16
One of his grandfathers: Shields Warren OH, pp. 2, 4.

17
philosophy professor: Ibid., p. 11.

18
“The mortality was terribly”: Ibid.

19
“I decided the best”: Ibid., pp. 12–26.

20
“Apparently nobody knew”: Ibid., p. 51.

21
“The Effects of Radiation on Normal Tissue”: AEC press release, “Dr. Shields Warren Appointed Interim Director of Biology and Medicine,” Oct. 24, 1947.

22
“no epidemics” brewing: L. A. Miazga, Sidney Marks, and Walter Weyzen, “Interview with Shields Warren,” April 9, 1974 (CIC 719365), p. 8.

23
“interplanetary rockets”: “Medical Policy,” Oct. 8, 1947 (ACHRE DOE- 051094-A-502), p. 7. The memo does not include author’s name, but other AEC records suggest it was written by Albert Holland.

24
radioactivity levels in fish: Gerber,
On the Home Front,
pp. 118–119.

25
“It is recommended that all river”: Wendell Crane to Milton Cydell, “Meeting of the Committee of Senior Responsible Reviewers—Statement of Hanford Operations Office Problems,” Dec. 17, 1948 (CIC 006217).

26
“When I took over”: Miazga et al., “Interview with Shields Warren,” pp. 3–4.

27
“isotopic injection”: Ibid. All of Shields Warren’s statements about the meeting with Joseph Hamilton taken from this document.

28
“…   feels fine”: Orthopedic clinic, Dec. 3, 1947, Allen m.r.

29
refused to declassify: Shields Warren to Albert Holland, “Declassification of Documents,” March 2, 1948 (CIC 707058).

30
given a “confidential” classification: Walter Claus to Langham, Aug. 30, 1950 (CIC 709725).

31
“With regard to the first statement”: Stone to Shields Warren, Oct. 6, 1948 (CIC 714416).

32
“highly significant decreases”: Norman C. Knowlton, “Changes in the Blood of Humans Chronically Exposed to Low Level Gamma Radiation” (LADC 587), 1948.

33
“The results of the studies”: Anthony Vallado to Clyde Wilson, “Review of Document by Knowlton,” Dec. 8, 1948 (ACHRE No. DOE-120894-E-32).

34
“has no idea”: Int. Norman Knowlton, April 24, 1996.

35
“to be made into a scientific liar”: Wilhelm Hueper, “Adventures of a Physician,” unpublished manuscript, p. 178.

36
nasopharyngeal irradiation: Hueper, “Recent Developments in Environmental Cancer,” Vol. 6, Hueper papers, p. 55.

37
Warren did not dispute: Udall,
Myths of August,
p. 192.