My parents are not just generous people, but brilliant thinkers and editors as well. My father Eli Zaretsky and my stepmother Nancy Fraser read the entire manuscript and encouraged me to tease out the connections between this project and my prior scholarly work, which improved this book immeasurably and, no less important, helped me make sense of my own intellectual journey. Having my ideas filtered through their sharp minds feels like a ridiculous home-court advantage. My mother, Linda Zaretsky, has been my staunchest, proudest champion. Her anger at injustice and her empathy toward suffering are an inspiration. All three of my parents were and remain movement people. Among many things, this book is a love letter to their younger selves. If it makes even a modest contribution to honoring the enormity of what their generation accomplished, then I will consider the last ten years time well spent.
Researching and writing this book required delving into material that was at times frightening and sad. Yet the years that I have worked on this project have been the happiest of my life, because I have gotten to share them with my two children, Daniel and Julian. I thank them for their dependency on me and for needing to be clothed, fed, sheltered, and hugged. Those demands reeled me away from atomic nightmares and planted me back in the routine world of daily living. I bristle when parents say that their children give them hope for the future, as I suspect those comments are not so much for the benefit of children, but rather to relieve parental anxieties and guilt about the fractured world that we are leaving behind. Yet I would be lying if I did not say that my children’s capacities for kindness and reflection do help me look toward the future with expectation, curiosity, and, yes, even hope.
Finally, I must thank my mensch of a husband, Jonathan Wiesen, whom I have taken to referring to as my secret weapon. He has read every word of this book more than once and brought his own considerable talents as a historian and writer to bear on it. He has stood by my side through many a “meltdown” and then had me laughing about it soon after. Again, I bristle at the aspiration of “having it all”—a pipedream, if ever there was one, for men and women alike. But any success I have had with balancing work, marriage, parenting, and health can be credited to Jonathan, who lives his feminism every day through his devotion to my career and to our family. What got me to this book’s finish line was imagining this very moment, when I could dedicate it with love to him.
INDEX
Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.
Aamodt, Marjorie, 120–21, 142
Aamodt, Norman, 120
Abortion: in atomic age, 38–39; conservative Christian Right and, 230n156; disarmament and, 167–68; fetal health and, 95–96, 173; freeze movement and, 167–68; nuclear war and, 167–68; politics and, 96–98; religion and, 96–98; rights of unborn and, 39–40, 167–68; TMI and, 84–85, 92–93, 97, 122, 230n152; women’s rights and, 84–85, 96–99, 167–68
Abstraction, of military, 19
Accidental activists, 53
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 206n15
AEC. See Atomic Energy Commission
Africa, 21–22
Agent Orange, 91, 133
Agriculture, 62, 90, 119–20
AIDS. See Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
Alcohol, 95–96
American Century, 193
ANGRY. See Anti-Nuclear Group Representing York
Animals, 93, 116–20, 127–28, 181–82
Anthropocene, 2–3, 72–73, 192, 204n3
Anti-Nuclear Group Representing York (ANGRY), 104
Antinuclear movement, xv–xvi, 17; accidental activists, 53; antiwar activists and, 55, 106–7; body and, 49–51, 51; Cold War and, 52–53, 55; freeze movement, 151–73, 244n36; Invisible Violence and, 54; on ionizing radiation, 49–51, 51; maps by, 46–49, 49, 53–54; nuclear power plants and, 45–51; physician activists, 154–60; politics and, 46–47, 51–56; radiation activists, 51, 55, 218n121; religion and, 99–100, 111–13; reluctant activists, 103–13; SANE and, 39–41, 42; social movements influencing, 45–46, 98–99; on TMI, 61, 104–13; Vietnam War and, 55–56, 106–7; women’s health movement and, 54, 98–100; women’s rights and, 99–100
Antiwar activists, 55, 64, 106–7
Antiwar movement: freeze movement and, 162–63; patriotic body politics
and, 9–10, 98–100, 194–95; political trust relating to, 6–7, 55; protests and, 7
Asteroid extinction theory, 180–81
Atom: domestication and popularizing of, 16, 23–26, 185–86, 210n29, 210n31; middle class and, 24, 185–86; peaceful, 16, 18–21, 47–48, 48; publicity for, 23–28, 27
Atomic age: abortion in, 38–39; to ecological age, 2–6, 147, 200, 224n72; fetal health and, 38; nuclear energy during, 2; panic during, 16; politics of, 2–3
Atomic bomb, 2, 15, 47, 154–55. See also Nuclear bombs
Atomic docility, 23–25
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), 210n31; atom publicity and, 23–26; creation and mission of, 17–18; Manhattan Project and, 17–18; nuclear testing by, 28–29; nuclear weaponry and, 17–18; on radiation exposure, 31
Atomic imaginary, 16; unborn and, 166–69
Atomic research, 21, 44–45
“Atoms for Peace” address, 16, 21, 209n6
Atoms for Peace program, 19–20
Beers, Paul, 64
Beliefs, 93, 206n13
Bennett, Kathryn, 159
Bernardin, Joseph L., 167
Bethe, Hans, 187
Biological citizenship, 72–77, 224n71
Biological injury, 93–94, 115–20, 117, 127–28. See also Genetic injury
Biology, xvi–xvii
Biotic nationalism: betrayal and, xvii–xviii, 13–14; body and, xvii–xviii, 13–14; during Cold War, xvii–xviii; conservatism and, 98–99; description of, xvii, 13–14; ecology and, 192; ethnonationalism and, 86, 195–96; social movements and, 98–99; TMI and, 59, 85–89, 189–90; Trump and, xviii; women and, 194–95
Birth defects, 4, 36–37, 59, 95, 114, 128
Bisgard, Jay C., 159–60
Black freedom movement, 194, 251n5
Blacks, 98–99, 207n21, 251n5
Blame, 207n19; credibility and, 140–43; at TMI, 103, 137, 140–43
Blitzer, Jeff, 136–37
Body: antinuclear movement and, 49–51, 51; biotic nationalism and, xvii–xviii, 13–14; black, 251n5; bodily infringement, xvi–xviii, 147–61; of children, 59, 81–89; civil defense and body under assault, 147–61; ecological, 32–43, 212n60; ecology and, xvi–xvii, xviii; feminism and, 8, 206n15; ionizing radiation on, 49–51, 51; irradiated, 58–59, 195; masculinity and, 207n19; maternal, 59; nation and, xviii–xix, 49–51, 51; New Left and, 8; nuclear war and, 153–61; political authority and, 58–59; political right and, 8, 12; radiation exposure thresholds and, 30–32; suffering, 6–14, 98–99, 195–96; TMI and, 58–59, 81–89; Vietnam War and, 8, 91, 98. See also Patriotic body politics
Bohr, Niels, 15
Brown, Phil, 115–20, 127, 237n119
Browner, Carol, 198
Buell, Lawrence, 102
Bush, George, 148
Caddell, Patrick, 161–62
Caldicott, Helen, 18, 118, 145, 163–64
Campos, Luis, 37–38
Cancer: carcinogens and, 35–36; culture and, 213n71; nuclear power plants and, 44–45; nuclear testing and, 15, 33, 35; oncology and, 35–36; radiation and, 35–36, 44–45, 51–52, 114, 120–22, 218n118, 218n121; from radioactive fallout, 33, 213n67; Strontium-90 and, 29–30; TMI and, 114, 120–22
Cancer-cluster theory, 120–22
Cannon fodder, 99
Capitalism, 198
Carbon-based fuel, 184, 197, 252n15
Carcinogens, 35–36
Carson, Johnny, 115–16
Carson, Rachel, 1–2, 3, 4, 127, 183–84, 193, 205n6
Carter, Jimmy, 92, 108, 121, 125, 141
Carter, Stephen Reed, 108
Cartography, 48–49
Cartoons, 23–24, 25, 123–26, 124, 140
Catholic Church, 166–67
Chemical spills, 251n10
Chemical toxicity, 1–2, 3, 4
Chernobyl accident, 186–88
Children: body of, 59, 81–89; Chernobyl and, 186–87; Cold War, women, and, 84; future relating to, 206n10; infant mortality, 122, 174; Japanese, 35; nuclear testing and, 33, 35, 52, 215n97; patriotism and, 169; radiation exposure to, 4, 32–43, 52, 213n67; Strontium-90 in, 32–33, 34; TMI and, 59, 67, 71–72, 77–78, 81–89, 87, 88, 105–6, 122. See also Fetal health; Reproductive futurity; Unborn
China Syndrome, 60, 69–70
Chipman, William, 149
Chomsky, Noam, 170–71
Christians, 111–13, 149–50, 230n156
Citizens Call, 218n121
Citizenship, biological, 72–77, 224n71
Civic nationalism, 191–92; ethnonationalism and, 13, 208n27
Civil defense, 79–80, 208n4; body under assault and, 147–61; crisis relocation, 150, 158; neoliberalism and, 197; nuclear shelters, 150–51, 158; during nuclear war, 150–61; policy-making and, 158–59; social reproduction and, 174–77
Civilian-Military Contingency Hospital System (CMCHS), 159–60
Cleanup efforts, 107–9, 189
Climate change, 188–89, 196–201, 248n103
CMCHS. See Civilian-Military Contingency Hospital System
Cold War: antinuclear movement and, 52–53, 55; biotic nationalism during, xvii–xviii; culture of dissociation and, xviii; The Day After and, 145–46; nuclear testing during, 15; radiation, 52–53; Second, 147–53, 171–72; women, children, and, 84
Committee for Sane Nuclear Policy (1957) (SANE), 35, 39–41, 42, 47, 49, 50
Commoner, Barry, 127, 177
Community of fate, 102–3, 126, 139, 140–43
Conservatism, 193–94; biotic nationalism and, 98–99; TMI relating to, 59–60, 64, 102–3, 128–29, 140–41
Conservative Christian Right, 230n156
Conservative ecological politics, 8, 12–13; TMI and, 89–100, 109–10, 128–29
Conservative imaginary, 13, 128–29, 143
Conservative nationalism, 193–94
Court cases. See Lawsuits
Cousins, Norman, 15, 41
Credibility, 140–43
Creitz, Walter, 66, 70
Crisis relocation, 150, 158
Cronkite, Walter, 1, 31, 68
Crutzen, Paul, 204n3
Cultural history: individual rights and, 13; during 1960s and 1970s, xvi–xvii, 13; TMI and, xv–xix
Culture: cancer, 213n71; wars, 11–12
Culture of dissociation: Atoms for Peace program and, 19–20; Cold War and, xviii; coming apart, 43–56; creation of, 17–28; fragility of, 16–17, 43–44; nuclear bombs and, 5–6, 23–26; nuclear energy and, 5–6, 16–28; nuclear power plants and, 23–26; nuclear testing and, 15–16; peaceful atom and, 18–20; radiation and, 16–17; return of, 189–90; TMI and, 5–6, 17
Curie, Marie, 16
Cuvier, Georges, 180–81
Darwin, Charles, 181
Dauphin County, 62, 64, 220n15
Day After, The, 144–46, 146, 154–55, 158, 175–76, 183
Deindustrialization, 62
DeLillo, Don, 4
Democracy, 127
Demographics, 62, 64, 220n15
Dennan, Charlotte, 112
Denton, Harold, 61, 70–71, 79, 141–42
Department of Agriculture, 90
Department of Defense, 159
Department of Environmental Resources (DER), 65–66
“Depolarizing Disarmament Work” (Mogey), 172–73
DER. See Department of Environmental Resources
Dinosaurs, 180–81
Disarmament, 151–61, 174–75; abortion and, 167–68; “Depolarizing Disarmament Work” on, 172–73; politics and, 169–73; WAND for, 164. See also Freeze movement
Disaster films, 144–46, 146, 154–55, 158, 175–76, 183, 241n9
Disasters: Chernobyl accident, 186–88; evacuation research, 79–80; Fukushima-Daiichi accident, 198, 199; society and, 57–58, 219n1; technological, 59, 65, 71, 221n21; visibility crisis, 72–77. See also Environmental disasters; Three Mile Island
Discrimination, 98–99, 206n15
Diseases, 154, 173, 214n81
Dissociation, 18. See also Culture of dissociation
Documentary film and photos, 154–57, 196, 198–99
Domestication, of atom, 16, 23–26, 185–86, 210n29, 210n31
Doroshow, Joanne, 130
Downwinders, 52–53, 121–22, 218n121, 219n132
Dunaway, Finis, 32, 212n60
Duplicity, of government, xvi–xvii
Earth Day, 147, 189
Earth science, 2, 29, 204n3
ECNP. See Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power
Ecological age, xviii, 128–29; during Anthropocene, 204n3; atomic age to, 2–6, 147, 200, 224n72; description of, 1–2; environmental disasters and, 2; politics in, 200–1; reproductive health and, 193; social movements and, 193; TMI and, 1–2, 59–60, 89–100; unborn in, 192–93
Ecological body: defining, 32; Dunaway on, 32, 212n60; radiation and, 32–43
Ecological imaginary, 8, 183–84
Ecology, 128–29; biology and, xvi–xvii; biotic nationalism and, 192; body and, xvi–xvii, xviii; nuclear winter and, 177–78
Economics: nuclear power plants and, 21–22, 24, 184, 252n15; TMI and, 57–58, 61–62, 64
Edelman, Lee, 206n10
Ehrlich, Anne, 178
Ehrlich, Paul, 4, 183–84
EIS. See Environmental Impact Statement
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 16, 18, 21, 209n6
Emotions, 16, 109, 197
Emshwiller, John, 74, 76
Energy Act (1954), 22–23
Energy Act (2005), 197–98
Energy assessments, 198
Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power (ECNP), 104
Environmental consciousness, 147
Environmental disasters: Anthropocene and, 2–3, 72–73, 204n3; ecological age and, 2; government and, 196–97; oil spills, 2, 192–93; reproductive health and, 192–93
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 138
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 73, 189
Environmental risk, 192, 220n3
EPA. See Environmental Protection Agency
Erikson, Kai, 30
Ethnonationalism, xviii; beginning of, 13; biotic nationalism and, 86, 195–96; civic nationalism and, 13, 208n27
Evacuation: NRC on, 78–79; panic myth, rehabilitation of state, and, 77–89; plans, 78–80; research, 79–80; of TMI, 67–68, 77–89, 227n108
Evolution, 154, 181
Extinction, 2–3, 192, 200–201; asteroid extinction theory, 180–81; Cuvier on, 180–81; of dinosaurs, 180–81; fear of, 182; nuclear winter, reproduction, and threat of, 173–84; unborn and, 182–83
Factories, 15, 193
Falwell, Jerry, 169, 230n156
Family, xv, xix, 10–11, 98, 111, 161, 185–86
Fate, community of, 102–3, 126, 139, 140–43
Fate of the Earth, The (Schell), 182–83
FDA. See Food and Drug Administration
Fear: of climate change, 200; of extinction, 182; invisibility and, 73; living with, 134; for men, compared to women, 226n98; of nuclear testing, 15, 17; of nuclear war, 144–50, 160–61; of radium, 20–21; at TMI, 73, 77, 89–91, 129–40; trauma and, 129–40; of unknown, 15, 77
Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), 149, 150
Feld, Bernard, 149
FEMA. See Federal Emergency Management Association
Feminism: body and, 8, 206n15; freeze movement and, 164, 166; gender, race, and sexuality relating to, 84–86, 194; nuclear energy and, xvi, 98, 110–11; sexuality and, 58, 206n15; women’s health movement and, 206n15
Fetal alcohol syndrome, 95–96
Fetal health: abortion and, 95–96, 173; atomic age and, 38
; birth defects and, 4, 36–37, 59, 95, 114, 128; diseases and, 214n81; prenatal injury, 38; radiation contamination, to fetuses, 4, 44, 213n72; reproductive health and, 36–43; thalidomide and, 128, 214n81; TMI and, 59, 92–100, 122, 128; unborn and, 93–97, 174
Films: disaster, 144–46, 146, 154–55, 158, 175–76, 183, 241n9; documentary, 154–57, 196, 198–99
Fisher, Wallace, 113
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 73
Fordism, 57–58
Forsberg, Randall, 151
Fossil fuels, 184, 188–89, 197–98, 252n15
Fossils, 180
Francis, Les, 121
Frederick, Edward, 65
Freeze movement: abortion and, 167–68; antiwar movement and, 162–63; disarmament and, 151–61, 164, 169–73; feminism and, 164, 166; future and, 171; militarism and, 170–73; mothers and, 164; partisanship and, 161–63, 172–73; patriotism and, 168–70; physician activists and, 154–60; political realignment and, 161–73; PSR and, 155–60, 244n36; religion and, 166–67; social movements and, 161; women and, 164–68, 165
Fukushima-Daiichi accident, 198, 199
Future: children relating to, 206n10; freeze movement and, 171; militarism and, 170–71; radiation contamination as crime against, 28–43; reproduction and, 201; social good and, 206n10. See also Reproductive futurity; Unborn
Futurology, 152, 243n23
Gallina, Charles, 66
Gaonkar, Dilip Parameshwar, 206n13
Geiger, H. Jack, 157, 160, 175, 178, 180, 247n89
Gender, xv, xix, 84–86, 161, 194
General Electric’s Nuclear Division, 45
General Public Utilities (GPU), 102–4, 140–42
Genetic injury: biological injury and, at TMI, 93–94, 115–20, 117, 127–28; multigenerational genetic mutations, 36–38; nuclear testing and, 37; from radiation exposure, 35–38, 54; reproductive health and, 36–38; to unborn, 40–41
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