UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1998 Chain reaction: The tragedy of atomic governance Mary Dawn Wammack University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Wammack, Mary Dawn, "Chain reaction: The tragedy of atomic governance" (1998). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1033. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/deig-t3pk This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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Wammack: Bachelor of Arts University o f Nevada, Las Vegas 1997 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree Department of History College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 1999 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1396417 Copyright 1999 by Wammack, Mary Dawn All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1396417 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeh Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Mary D. Wammack 1999 AU Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval UNIV The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas June 11 1999 The Thesis prepared by Mary D. Wammack Entitled CHAIN REACTION: THE TRAGEDY OF ATOMIC GOVERNANCE is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Examination Committee Chair Dean of the G iad^te College EMtninatiin Committee Memb^ 'YY) Examirmtion Committee Mfti^ber (iM . Ca ^ — ^ Graduate College Faculty Representative U Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Chain Reaction: The Tragedy of Atomic Governance by Mary D. Wammack Dr. David S. Tanenhaus, Examination Committee Chair Professor of fCstory University of Nevada, Las Vegas An unprecedented combination o f imagination and capital resulted in the most profound, and profane, achievement in modem history—the atom bomb—but the strategies that empowered its development caused inestimable suffering in peacetime America. Discrete practices of secrecy, media manipulation, and the devaluation of scientific opinion evolved and coalesced during the cold war, permeating institutions and pre-empting any protection of the unwary fi’om exposure to radioactive fallout. While the atomic testing program and its consequences are often considered in light o f national policy, this analysis alternatively reveals the character, fusion, and trajectory o f practices that culminated in the collision of the government with the health and lives of the innocent. m Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.........................................................................................................v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1 CHAPTER n THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT......................................................46 CHAPTER m THE MANHATTAN ENGINEER DISTRICT.....................................109 CHAPTER IV OPERATION CROSSROADS............................................................... 152 CHAPTER V THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION.......................................... 201 CHAPTER VI THE NEVADA PROVING GROUND................................................225 CHAPTER Vn CONCLUSION........................................................................................ 267 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................273 VITA....................................................................................................................................... 284 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I feel so fortunate to have had the guidance of generous scholars and the unwavering support of family and friends. I shall be forever grateful to Larry and Alan Johns, who ignited my interest in atomic testing while giving me friendship and opportunities. As an undergraduate, I learned new and interesting ways to think about history and politics from my advisor Andrew Bell, and I continue to benefit from his tutelage and treasure his fiiendship. It has been my privilege and especial pleasure as a graduate student to have studied under a remarkable historian, David Tanenhaus, who has directed my education and this thesis with extraordinary diligence and care. Joseph A. Fry and Eugene Moehring have been exceedingly generous with valuable advice, encouragement, and insight. I have benefitted additionally from graduate assistantships in UNLVs Department of History and a research grant from the Graduate Student Association. For support and companionship, I should like to particularly thank Brenda Cloud, Mary Johns, Tamara Koza, Maria Dufek, Gretchen Cottrell, Carole Terry, Gerry Evans, Jen Stenfors, Dorma Crail-Rugotske, Gerhard Grytz, (who shared with me his Arizona and New Mexico research) and my dear fiiend Debra Bishop. My amazing family has given me uncompromising support and countless hours of delight. To my parents Grover and Arm Edmondson, Laurie and Mike Adams, G.C. and Sue Edmondson, daughters Katherine, Christina, Armette and Sarah, my newest joy grandaughter Maria, and my ever-supportive husband Jim, I dedicate this thesis with all my love. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION It is, perhaps, the little curiosities rather than the grand design that propel research. Those who study the cold war era, and particularly atomic testing, either become inured to roadblocks of security classifications and endless Freedom of Information Act Requests, or abandon the endeavor altogether. Those who adapt, however, cling to the hope that somewhere within the dusty boxes or microfilm reels they will find some little something that will point the way to, well, probably just another box or reel. Eventually, though, enough little somethings form an image of sorts; and then, like a neophyte struggling to make sense out of a Picasso, the researcher can finally stand back, perhaps cock her head to the side for a different perspective, and try to say what it all means. The whole process is set in motion by some little, curious something. And so it was with the discovery o f the muskrat.^ Immortalized by a few brief remarks in the transcript of a 1956 meeting of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Committee on Biology & Medicine and achieving momentary notoriety as an interesting tidbit in a Newsweek article, the muskrat’s significance cannot be