UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO “The Ghost of the Bomb”: The Bravo Medical Program, Scientific Uncertainty, and the Legacy of U.S. Cold War Science, 1954 – 2005 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History (Science Studies) by Laura J. Harkewicz Committee in charge: Professor Naomi Oreskes, Chair Professor Steven Epstein Professor Cathy Gere Professor Martha Lampland Professor Rebecca Plant Professor Nayan Shah 2010 Copyright Laura J. Harkewicz, 2010 All rights reserved The Dissertation of Laura J. Harkewicz is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2010 iii DEDICATION To Rick, for his constant support and encouragement, and making me laugh. Forever and always, and then some. And to Jack, for always being happy to see me, and for making us a family. iv The greatest irony of our atmospheric nuclear testing program is that the only victims of U.S. nuclear arms since World War II have been our own people. (The Subcommittee includes within this context those individuals living in the trust territories of the Pacific Islands.) - Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, “The Forgotten Guinea Pigs,” August 1980 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................... iii Dedication.......................................................................................... iv Epigraph............................................................................................. v Table of Contents............................................................................... vi List of Figures.................................................................................... viii Acknowledgments.............................................................................. ix Vita..................................................................................................... x Abstract.............................................................................................. xi Prologue ............................................................................................. 1 Introduction........................................................................................ 5 Chapter 1 The Bravo Incident and the Beginnings of the Medical Survey 1.1 Introduction..................................................................... 22 1.2 Project 4.1 ....................................................................... 29 1.3 Dose Reconstruction ....................................................... 32 1.4 Biological Effects............................................................ 37 1.5 The Conference on Long Term Surveys......................... 43 1.6 Who’s In Charge? ........................................................... 47 1.7 Constructing the Project 4.1 Report with the Selective Illumination of Dose ...................................................... 51 1.8 Conclusion ...................................................................... 56 Chapter 2 The Return to Rongelap and Investigations into Latent Effects 2.1 Introduction..................................................................... 61 2.2 Medical Surveys on Rongelap ........................................ 64 2.3 From Growth and Development Studies to Thyroid Abnormalities ................................................................ 78 2.4 Radiation and Thyroid Function..................................... 84 2.5 The Marshallese and Synthyroid Administration ........... 89 2.6 Conclusion ...................................................................... 95 vi Chapter 3 Cold War Science as Cold War Politics 3.1 Introduction..................................................................... 98 3.2 To Promote and to Protect .............................................. 102 3.3 National Laboratories/National Science ......................... 103 3.4 Research Using Human Subjects and the Evolution of Bioethics.................................................................... 109 3.5 Radiation Risk and Objectivity....................................... 118 3.6 The Impact of Micronesian Politics on Bravo Science... 131 3.7 The Special Joint Committee Report and its Aftermath . 136 3.8 The Death of Lekoj Anjain ............................................. 144 3.9 Conclusion ...................................................................... 147 Chapter 4 “Cultures of Action”: Pre-Compact Activism and the Disappearance of Individual Nuclear Histories 4.1 Introduction..................................................................... 153 4.2 The Beginning of Resistor Activism............................... 155 4.3 The Kotrady Report as an Origin of Activist Publicity .. 165 4.4 From Internal Report to Mass Publicity.......................... 172 4.5 Conflicts between Resistors and Negotiators ................. 176 4.6 Conclusion ...................................................................... 192 Chapter 5 Activists, Doctors, and a Radiation-exposed Identity 5.1 Introduction..................................................................... 197 5.2 Progress or Stasis? .......................................................... 199 5.3 Cultural Concerns ........................................................... 206 5.4 The Community of Exposed Peoples.............................. 212 5.5 “We can’t relocate the world”: Greenpeace and Rongelapese Activism................................................. 217 5.6 Conclusion ...................................................................... 229 Chapter 6 Scientific Uncertainty and the “Changed Circumstances” Petition 6.1 Introduction..................................................................... 236 6.2 The Scientific Debate...................................................... 237 6.3 Analysis of the Debate – Simon and the No Changed Circumstances Side.................................... 251 6.4 Analysis of the Debate – Mauro and the Changed Circumstances Side ......................................... 259 6.5 New knowledge, old problems?: The NCI Study .......... 267 6.6 Conclusion ...................................................................... 272 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 278 References.......................................................................................... 299 Appendix Information about Archival Sources ................................ 321 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Isodose Map ................................................................... 29 Figure 1.2: Map of Marshall Islands................................................. 60 Figure 6.1: “Linear” Dose-response Curve at High Doses............... 271 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my Dissertation Committee, Professor Steven Epstein, Professor Martha Lampland, Professor Rebecca Plant, and Professor Nayan Shah, members for their assistance and mentoring over the years. I would especially like to acknowledge my Committee Chair, Professor Naomi Oreskes, and Professor Cathy Gere for their repeated readings of, and recommendations on, various drafts of this dissertation. I would also like to acknowledge Jesus Perez and Merina Smith for their advice and recommendations about drafts of this work. I would like to thank the many archivists and research staff who assisted me with my research especially, Janice Goldblum from the National Academy of Sciences archives, Pamela Cornell from the McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center, Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center Library, Kathy Rutledge from Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library, and the staff of the Brookhaven National Laboratory Research Library, especially Lee Akras. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Robert Crease and Mr. Peter Heotis from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Mr. Bill Graham, Nuclear Claims Tribunal Public Advocate, Dr. Steven Simon, and Dr. Hans Behling for their insight and information. Much of this work was funded under a National Science Foundation Science, Technology, and Society Program Grant # 0822480. Other funding was received from the UCSD Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies, and the UCSD Science Studies Program and Department of History. ix VITA 1981 Bachelor of Science, Resource Management and Conservation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1985 Associates Degree, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Triton College 2000 Master of Arts, American Studies, Michigan State University 2004 – 2005 Teaching Assistant, Thurgood Marshall College, University of California, San Diego 2005 – 2007 Oral Historian, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego 2008 – 2010 Teaching Assistant, Sixth College, University of California, San Diego 2009 Associate In History, Department of History, University of California, San Diego 2010 Doctor of Philosophy, History (Science Studies) University of California, San Diego FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History of Science (Science Studies) Studies in 20th century U.S. science and history Professors Naomi Oreskes and Rebecca Plant Studies in the history and sociology of medicine Professors Cathy Gere and Steven Epstein Studies in Cultural History Professor Nayan Shah x ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “The Ghost of the Bomb”: The Bravo Medical Program, Scientific Uncertainty,