Downwind of the Atomic State: Atmospheric Testing and the Rise of the Risk Society

by James C. Rice

How the scientific community overlooked, ignored, and denied the catastrophic fallout of decades of nuclear testing in the American West.

In December of 1950, President Harry Truman gave authorization for the Atomic Energy Commission to conduct weapons tests and experiments on a section of a Nevada gunnery range. Over the next eleven years, more than a hundred detonations were conducted at the Nevada Test Site, and radioactive debris dispersed across the communities just downwind and through much of the country. In this important work, James C. Rice tells the hidden story of nuclear weapons testing and the negligence of the US government in protecting public health.

Downwind of the Atomic State focuses on the key decisions and events shaping the Commission’s mismanagement of radiological contamination in the region, specifically on how the risks of fallout were defined and redefined, or, importantly, not defined at all, owing to organizational mistakes and the impetus to keep atomic testing going at all costs. Rice shows that although Atomic Energy Commission officials understood open-air detonations injected radioactive debris into the atmosphere, they did not understand, or seem to care, that the radioactivity would irrevocably contaminate these communities.

The history of the atomic Southwest should be a wake-up call to everyone living in a world replete with large, complex organizations managing risky technological systems. The legacy of open-air detonations in Nevada pushes us to ask about the kinds of risks we are unwittingly living under today. What risks are we being exposed to by large organizations under the guise of security and science?

Genres: History

376 pages, Hardcover

Published March 7, 2023

Reviews

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read on the American Atomic Energy Commission and their nuclear tests. Especially, the lack of communication and protection for the nearby living people and nature are described. I found the book gripping and finished it pretty quickly for such a "dry" topic. The photos are a nice touch and some really surprised me (don't worry, no "nasty" visuals). The book contains loads of information on health effects after the testing. Though one reviewer also mentioned, the book could contain a chapter on why the AEC was pressured this way.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC to read!

[Michael Hassel Shearer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Downwind of the Atomic State by James C. Rice
This book certainly will have a very limited readership. Why do I say this? Many non-fiction books are about a topic that may be of interest to you but then also go off on tangents which may or may not make them more interesting. Sometimes I enjoy these off-roads and other times I am frustrated as this is not what I wanted to read. In this case, Mr. Rice stays on a very narrow path and describes the failure of the AEC ( Atomic Energy Commission) to inform and protect the American public from fallout as a result of nuclear testing occurring in the Nevada Testing Range. This topic is thoroughly covered. However, there is no reasons given for the AEC’s failure to protect and often lie to the public directly through silence or at best misinformation in hearings. I think perhaps the AEC’s failure may have been due to the “Red Scare” and McCarthy Era. But this is never discussed or how much pressure was coming from the US Military or Industry to do this testing. Without this discussion I can-not recommend this book.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Downwind of the Atomic State by James C Rice is a deep dive into the organizational mistakes and misconduct of the Atomic Energy Commission, Department of Energy and the Department of Defense during testing from roughly 1951-1962 at the NTS.

A couple of things to clear up for potential readers. While this is readily accessible to anyone with an interest, this is not a book with a popular readership as its target. This is, I think, ideally suited for policymakers, those in organizations doing work that can impact the general public, researchers and academics looking at organizational sociology and public relations between government and the general public, and anyone in the general public wanting to know what mistakes were made, what deceptions were perpetrated, and what kinds of things to look out for the next time a government or large organization seeks trust from the public to perform potentially dangerous tests or procedures. This is not, and wasn't intended to be, a work that illustrates in detail how marginalized populations suffered, as they usually do, when things go wrong. That is a different facet of the testing period and inclusion here would have led the book off topic. So I will be reviewing the book as it is intended, not as I or someone else would have written it.

Rice gives a very good outline of his argument and of the book in the Introduction. This is helpful because there is a lot of information here. While his larger arguments are clearly presented and argued, some of the more nuanced issues require, for the lay reader such as myself, a regular refocusing of my attention. I am neither an organizational sociologist nor am I part of a large hierarchical organization, so I needed to keep reorienting myself with what I was reading about. This isn't a negative about the book, in fact, thanks to the introduction, it is a positive. Rather than a surface analysis that could easily have been read, I got a deeper analysis but had to do more work. It was worth it.

Unfortunately, those prone to conspiracy theories will possibly come away even more convinced of their conspiracies. Many of us with a skeptical approach to government and big business (think large government contractors) will have some of our concerns confirmed while also giving us some insight into what we might ask and seek in future endeavors that could threaten all life and the environment.

As I mention above, this does have a wide but very focused target readership, and anyone within those areas will find a lot here to use in their own work, whether organizational or academic or activist.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone interested in legal and environmental issues, I found James C. Rice's "Downwind of the Atomic State" to be a useful academic resource. The book provides a detailed account of the atomic testing program and its effects on local residents. But, as others have mentioned, the book doesn't really go into the the broader political, social, and cultural contexts that made these tests (and other damaging environmental activities) possible. In my opinion, this narrow focus limits the book's usefulness for readers who are looking to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the history of nuclear testing in the United States.

Despite this limitation, I believe that "Downwind of the Atomic State" will be a valuable resource for future researchers. Rice's research is thorough and well-documented, and not too dense for interested readers.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downwind of the Atomic State was a good academic read. Though the author was sometimes too scientific in their descriptions, I did enjoy that they separated the chapters and explained the purpose of each in the introduction. This gives the reader a good indication of the flow of the book and helps guide the reader to better understand some of the intricate details which might otherwise lose someone.

The research on done by the author was extremely detailed and you can tell that it was important they got everything correct, which I could appreciate very much. That being said, sometimes too much detail ended up bogging down the chapters and it seemed easier to skim through paragraphs because of this.

Overall the book was very well written and researched and incredibly intriguing. This is author is a great researcher will be a great companion for graduate courses.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The US West is steeped in state-sanctioned environmental violence, enacting a toll on vulnerable segments of the population. Others, of course, benefit. The embrace of the AEC in Las Vegas undercut recognition of the tribulations of residents elsewhere in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona who were more directly affected by testing. Fallout moved in one direction and federal spending and tourist dollars in another. What Las Vegans did not know is how easily things could have been different. An additional fifteen degree swing in the prevailing winds and shot Nancy’s fallout would have landed on the Strip. This probably would have dampened enthusiasm for the commission's atomic spectacular.”

…

“The conviction that the desert is a barren wasteland feeds into a moral void that powerful actors find inviting. Land perceived as devoid of life can hardly then be understood as stripped of it. Mary Austin, an early critic of western ambivalence, observed, ‘East away from the Sierras, south from Panamint and Amargosa, east and south many an uncounted mile, is the Country of Lost Borders.... Desert is a loose term to indicate land that supports no man; whether the land can be bitted and broken to that purpose is not proven. Void of life it never is, however dry the air and villainous the soil.’”

***

Suuuuper fascinating & in depth look at those living downwind of the NTS. Interesting perspective on technocracy as it relates to the atomic state. Sometimes repetitive and the timeline was often confusing. I would’ve liked something about Castle Bravo’s extensive fallout, but I know that wasn’t within the scope of this book. I love the West & I love the desert and seeing how they’ve been designated as sacrifice zones is heartbreaking