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EVOLUTION of NUCLEAR POWER in AMERICAN POP CULTURE a University Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Cal State University, East B

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EVOLUTION of NUCLEAR POWER in AMERICAN POP CULTURE a University Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Cal State University, East B EVOLUTION OF NUCLEAR POWER IN AMERICAN POP CULTURE A University Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Cal State University, East Bay In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree Masters of Art in History By Myra Drouillard May 2019 Copyright © 2019 by Myra Drouillard ii Abstract The purpose of this research is to bring an understanding of how nuclear tourism was and is perceived by the American population and has been incorporated into popular culture. This research chronicles how Americans feared nuclear, then embraced it, and then feared it again from the atomic age through today. Prior research about the atomic age tends to focus on the effects of the atom bomb and the devastation it could render. This project approaches atomic energy from a different angle and analyzes how Americans embraced it for entertainment through Hollywood films, the media, as well as toys and candy. Yet public opinion changed when Americans learned of the negative effects that gamma rays and radiation could have on the population, especially on the “downwinders,” people directly downwind of the testing sites, who were becoming increasingly ill from radiation type illnesses that could no longer be denied. The atomic age brought to light the possibility of total annihilation. This fatalistic realization occurred at the same time as government officials were touting the benefits of nuclear. In order to encourage nuclear as an energy source, the United States had to embrace the development and testing of the bomb to ensure Americans’ safety. Over time and after many rounds of testing, Americans were swayed by the government’s propaganda. Ultimately, Americans had to teach their children about the possibility of a nuclear war and how to protect themselves by doing such things as building bomb shelters. All of these efforts reinforced the public fear of nuclear energy. iii As Americans became more aware of the biased information their government had pushed on them, they became equally aware of the length the government would go in order to reach certain goals and agendas. During this period, nuclear energy became commonplace in American culture, values, and principles. Nuclear power became an accepted part of American life. iv THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN NUCLEAR POP CULTURE By Myra Drouillard Approved: Date: 6Z-#G41~ D,_Ab~dm~ ~~~~~ Dr. Kevin Kaatz I i I I v I II i! ft I Acknowledgments I would to first like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Anna Alexander, and my thesis reader Dr. Kevin Kaatz, at Cal State East Bay. They have helped me on this journey with patience and just the right amount of guidance. Both professors graciously agreed to read and edit this work, and I am very grateful for their time and dedication. It would be impossible not to mention all the wonderful people who helped me, encouraged me, and put up with me while I wrote my thesis. I would first like to thank my daughter Victoria, who patiently waited for me for so many nights, and ate many dinners alone. Victoria was my biggest supporter while I did my research and writing. My friends and first readers also supported me and contributed to the process, Lydia Jones, Natalie Feulner and Denise Johnson who kept me on task and encouraged me faithfully. In addition, would like to acknowledge the librarians at Cal State East Bay as their knowledge and patience with my frequent visits helped keep me on my path. I was fortunate to have two very amazing resources at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Nevada who gave me their time and expertise in all things nuclear. Natalie Luvera, the curator at the museum who spent long hours going into overtime to go through the archives with me, and allowed me to use many of the pictures in this work. Also, Richard “Dick” Reed, retired from the Mercury Test Site and docent at the National Atomic Testing Museum, who also spent hours with me answering my questions and allowing me to interview him on his personal experience while working at the Mercury, Nevada test site. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi LIST OF IMAGES viii PREFACE 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 1. CONCEPTION ..............................................................................................15 2. EMERGENCE ...............................................................................................28 3. PROLIFERATION ........................................................................................42 4. RETROSPECT ..............................................................................................56 5. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................67 6. IMAGES ........................................................................................................79 7. REFERENCES ..............................................................................................86 vii LIST OF IMAGES Image 1. Gilbert U-238, Atomic Energy Lab, 1950, A.C. Gilbert Company ...................... 79 2. The Buck Rogers Space Ray Gun, 1934, Daisy Manufacturing Company ............................................................................................................... 80 3. Collier Magazine cover, 1952, titled: A is for Atom, by Robert Cahn ...................................................................................................................... 81 4. A postcard for the Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn ....................................................... 82 5. Miss Atomic Bomb 1957. Lee Merlin, Las Vegas, Nevada ................................. 83 6. A participation certificate given out at the Mercury Testing site for guests and media ................................................................................................... 84 7. Photo of the military volunteer viewers brushing off radiation after watching from a “safe” distance from detonation ................................................. 85 viii 1 Preface Meet Atom. Out of World War II came the conception for the most powerful weapon made of the smallest elements known to man, the atom. Although the existence of the atom has been known since Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius developed his atomic theory in 98 BCE, the evolution of it as a usable energy source had a long progression. Since Titus Lucretius’ theory many scientists have contributed to understanding the atom. Until relatively recently, scientists had thought that splitting an atom was impossible. The philosopher Democritus, 460 BCE – 370 BCE, proposed the name “atomos” from the Greek word for uncuttable since he felt that all matter could only be broken down to the smallest of particles to what he called “atomos.” Democritus’ theory surrounding the atomos was too advanced for the times, and did not surface again until 1477 when a poet and alchemist, Thomas Norton, used it in his poem, “The Ordinal of Alchemy.”1 Other theories of matter abound, including the flawed ones by Plato, (420 BCE- 347 BCE), and Aristotle, (384 BCE-322 BCE), which claimed matter was able to disband in air, fire, earth, and water. Aristotle is considered to have started the scientific revolution. Even though another philosopher was on the correct path, both Aristotle and Plato did not believe in Democritus’ atomic theory and their dominant philosophy overshadowed any other way of thinking. 1 Thomas Norton, “The Ordinal of Alchemy,” Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 1477. Accessed February 26, 2019, http://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3441268. 2 It was not until 1897, and in the years that followed that, scientist Sir J.J. Thomson discovered the electron and his student, Lord Ernest Rutherford, assisted in the discovery of the proton. Both elements are part of the structure of the atom (Image 1). Piérre and Marie Curie’s discovery of polonium and radium, which were similar in the element discharge like uranium, would become what they called radiation. The understanding of these particles paved the way for further atomic and nuclear study. At the same time, Einstein developed his famous equation describing how mass could be converted to energy, E = mc2 (where E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light). Nuclear fission was discovered in 1939, by German physicists Otto Han and Fritz Strassmann, showing that a heavy atom like uranium could be split into lighter elements and at the same time release a large amount of energy, following the E = mc2 equation. This process is the basis of nuclear power. Early on, the concept of an atom bomb was already in American culture, and Lord Rutherford working with Frederick Soddy, a radiochemist, became the inspiration for the H.G. Wells novel in 1914, The World Set Free, where he used the atom bomb as the catalyst for world destruction.2 By 1919, science was prevalent and even revered in American culture as many discoveries were made during this era including x-rays, radioactivity, and black body radiation which was the basis for quantum theory explaining the nature of behavior of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level. 2 Gerald J. DeGroot, The Bomb: A Life. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005), 5. 3 By 1932, a student of Lord Rutherford, James Chadwick, discovered the neutron which is the third and final particle of the atom. This discovery furthered scientific analysis which allowed for two groups of scientists to make the ultimate discovery. In 1934, Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard and
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