Radioactive Fallout, the Politics of Risk, and the Making of a Global Environmental Crisis, 1954-1963
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RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT, THE POLITICS OF RISK, AND THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, 1954-1963 A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Toshihiro Higuchi, M.A. Washington, DC August 25, 2011 Copyright 2011 by Toshihiro Higuchi All Rights Reserved ii RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT, THE POLITICS OF RISK, AND THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, 1954-1963 Toshihiro Higuchi, M.A. Thesis Advisor: David S. Painter, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the problem of radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing as a pioneering case of global environmental politics during the Cold War. It traces the fallout crisis from the radiological disaster of 1954 in the Pacific to the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963. Informed by sociological studies of risk, the dissertation explores why the mid-20th century world came to interpret the risk of global fallout as unacceptable. It argues that this shift was an outcome of politics, which developed around the paradox that one must blend scientific facts and social values to conceive of risk but also demarcate them to be recognized as authoritative. This tension, arising from the trans-scientific nature of risk, shaped the respective courses of public debates, scientific research, and expert reviews. The dissertation focuses on the United States but emphasizes its interactions with Japan, where the fallout crisis first broke out, and also with the other two fallout polluters of the time, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. The dissertation analyzes the politics of risk as unfolding at global and local levels. The global level revolved around the proposition that the biological effects of low-level radiation from global fallout were infinitesimal to the individual but loomed large on the scale of the whole population. This raised a serious question of whether the risk was acceptable to innocent bystanders in the world. The local level of risk politics centered at the interplay of fallout monitoring and radiation safety standards. The expanding surveillance of fallout revealed its rising levels and uneven distribution. The permissible iii dose, however, gradually declined in anticipation of the increase of radiation exposure. This dynamic created the alarming impression that a margin of safety was rapidly vanishing. The dissertation also investigates various impacts of the changing outlook of risk on the issue of a nuclear test ban among the three nuclear powers. It argues that the politics of risk stimulated not only a call for a test ban but also a pursuit of technological solutions, and that the partial ban was a joint product of these opposite approaches to the risk. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation marks an end point of my decade-long intellectual sojourn which took me from Japan to the United States. It changed course, often unexpectedly but always in a better direction, thanks to the assistance of numerous individuals and institutions. This project would have not been possible if I were not part of the wonderful community of the Department of History at Georgetown University. It has been my “home away home” in all senses, offering research funds, intellectual advice, teaching opportunities, and warm encouragement (and occasionally free food and coffee!). Thanks to the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, I could concentrate on writing the dissertation for the final year of my graduate career. Contrary to the popular image of the immobile historian, we frequently travel to chase the trace of the past. Without a number of travel grants and guiding hands of archivists and librarians, I could not have taken an ambitious multinational, multi-archival approach. In the United States, the Eisenhower Foundation and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation funded my trips to the respective Presidential Libraries, where I received assistance from helpful archivists, in particular David Haight of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library who drew a detailed research guide on the subject. The Peter and Judith Freeman Fund for the Resident Scholar Program at Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections not only aided my one-month research through the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers but also provided me with an occasion to present part of my dissertation before the very interested audience. My experience in Corvallis was extremely rewarding thanks to Clifford Mead, the head of the Special Collections, and his able staff. The Nuclear Testing Archive of the Nevada Office, U.S. Department of v Energy, responded to my frequent requests for documents and digitalized them in a timely, professional manner. Dr. David A. Schauer, the executive director of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, kindly took his time in arranging my access to the papers of Lauriston S. Taylor. My archival research trip to England in 2010 was generously funded by the Cosmos Scholars Grant Program of the Cosmos Club in Washington DC. When I visited Moscow twice during the same year, I received invaluable assistance from many individuals. First and foremost, I am indebted to Paul Simmons, who spared much time to help me arrange appointments at various archives and institutes in Moscow. Without him, I could have accomplished little during my short-term visits. I would also thank Sonja Schmidt for introducing me to Larisa Petrovna Belozerova at S. I. Vavilov Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology. Larisa not only warmly welcomed me to the Institute but also wrote a number of reference letters for my research in various Russian archives. A. G. Nazarov, an eminent Russian radiation ecologist and fellow at the Institute, generously provided me with a copy of his extremely informative monograph on the radiological past of the former Soviet Union. A special thank goes to Irina G. Tarakanova of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who retrieved a considerable number of files on a very short notice. I still fondly remember her occasionally inviting me for a tea break during my research. My dissertation is a synthesis of all intellectual threads I acquired from my academic advisors and colleagues over the decade. I owe my deepest gratitude to my main advisor David Painter. He was an ideal mentor who has a sharp mind and open heart. Without his deep understanding and warm encouragement, I could have not even dreamed of taking vi an unconventional approach to U.S. foreign relations. I am deeply indebted to John McNeill for opening my eye to the environmental dimension of my long-standing interest in nuclear affairs. He also challenged me to look beyond a pile of archival sources and see a larger picture. It was such a pleasure for me to work with Kathryn Olesko, who helped me explore the historical studies of science and technology and sharpen up the theoretical aspect of my dissertation. She read through the first draft and offered numerous insightful comments. J. Samuel Walker and David Holloway kindly agreed to serve as the outside readers for my dissertation. I am very fortunate to receive helpful feedback from these foremost experts on U.S. and Soviet nuclear affairs respectively. My M.A. advisor Lawrence Wittner has been providing helpful advice and warm support for me throughout my years in the United States. My fulsome thank also goes to my undergraduate advisor Sumio Hatano. He taught me the excitement of learning from the past and encouraged me to pursue my passion in the United States. This dissertation also reflects valuable feedback I received at the Environmental History and the Cold War Conference at the German Historical Institute in March 2007. I would like to thank the co-conveners John McNeill and Corinna Unger, the senior editor David Lazar, and all participants who asked penetrating questions about my presentation that became the core of my dissertation. My fulsome Arigato! goes to Thomas Apel, Paul Fengler, Benjamin Francis-Fallon, Jonathan Hunt, and Alan Roe for not only helping me polishing the final draft but also being wonderful friends. Finally, on a personal note, I wish to thank my parents, Shiro and Kuniko Higuchi, for love and understanding they have been always giving to me across the Pacific. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations List of Tables Abbreviations Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................... 30 The Lucky Dragon Incident: The Making and Unmaking of a Pacific Environmental Crisis, 1954-1957 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................... 72 Dilemma of Dual Audience: Public Debate and the Origin of the Global Fallout Crisis, 1954-1955 Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................................... 111 A Concilium of World Science: The Establishment of Expert Review Panels, 1954-1955 Chapter 4 ..................................................................................................................... 137 U.S. and British Committees of Experts, 1955-1956 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................... 167 Public