SOME UNINTENDED FALLOUT FROM DEFENSE POLICY: MEASURING THE EFFECT OF ATMOSPHERIC NUCLEAR TESTING ON AMERICAN MORTALITY PATTERNS Keith Meyers University of Arizona ∗ June 16, 2017 Abstract During the Cold War the United States detonated hundreds of atomic weapons at the Nevada Test Site. Many of these nuclear tests were conducted above ground and released tremendous amounts of radioactive pollution into the environment. This paper combines a new dataset measuring annual county level fallout patterns for the continental U.S. with vital statistics records. This paper finds that fallout from nuclear testing led to persistent and substantial increases in overall mortality for large portions of the country. The cumulative death toll attributable to nuclear testing is seven to fourteen times larger than previous estimates. JEL Codes: I10; N32; Q50 ∗ Meyers, Keith. 1000 E Water Street #5, Tucson, AZ 85719; Economics Dept. Fax: 520.621.8450, Phone: 937-570-0782; Email:
[email protected]. Manuscript word count: 8,440. This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number SES 1658749. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Thanks to Price Fishback, Derek Lemoine, Ashley Langer, Joesph Ferrie, Jessamyn Schaller, Gary Solon, and Cihan Artunc for feedback, data and support. Additional thanks to Andre Bouville, Steven Simon and the National Cancer Institute for their help providing fallout deposition records. 1 Pollution is often the byproduct of human activity and imposes significant costs upon the public.