
SEASON 01: EPISODE 09 (PART 2 OF 2):
America's Chernobyl
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Hanford is the most-polluted place in America. On our last episode, you heard about the nuclear plant's largely-forgotten history--how it poisoned the people living downwind. On our season finale: a nuclear safety auditor tries to get it shut down, the downwinders struggle for justice, and we take you into the plant itself. The story of Hanford reveals that expertise is always a political battle, and never as straightforward as simply collecting facts--whether it’s executives putting profit over a safety auditor’s well-documented warnings, a community-based research pitted against government-backed studies, or turning a world-changing nuclear reactor into a scientific lecture.
GUESTS
- Casey Ruud is a former safety auditor and whistleblower at the Hanford plant.
- Patricia Hoover is a Downwinder and one of the founding members of the North West Radiation Health Alliance. She lives in Eugene, Oregon.
- Karen Dorn Steele is an investigative journalist who has been covering Hanford for 35 years.
- Tom Bailie is a farmer who lives in Mesa, Washington and a Hanford Downwinder.
- Rudi Nussbaum was a physics professor, Holocaust survivor, and founding member of the North West Radiation Health Alliance. He died in 2011.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
Sadly, this is the last episode of our season! We'll be back in Spring 2021, but we'll be launching a new show in the meantime. You'll find the first few episodes in this feed, so stay subscribed. The best way to stay abreast of our plans for our new season is to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. You'll hear about it there first. Plus, while you're waiting, you might want to check out some of the other stuff that our team makes. Like Crackdown, a podcast about the drug war, covered by drug users as war correspondents.
Key References
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Alvarez, Robert. “The Legacy of Hanford.” The Nation, July 31, 2003. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/legacy-hanford/.
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“Archives West: Hanford Litigation Office Records, circa 1950-2015.” Accessed August 4, 2020.http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv53143.Associated Press. “Hanford Emissions Linked to Thyroid Disease.” Seattle PI, July 26, 2006. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Hanford-emissions-linked-to-thyroid-disease-1210029.php.
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———. “Washington’s Hanford Nuclear Tanks Leaking Waste, Again | CBC News.” News. CBC, February 23, 2013. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/washington-s-hanford-nuclear-tanks-leaking-waste-again-1.1378475.Atomic Heritage Foundation. “Marshall Islands.” Atomic Heritage Foundation. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/marshall-islands.
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Brown, Karina. “Radioactive Waste Still Flooding Columbia River, EPA Says.” News. Courthouse News Service, June 8, 2017. https://www.courthousenews.com/radioactive-waste-still-flooding-columbia-river-epa-says/.
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Brown, Kate.Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters. Oxford University Press, 2013.
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Cannan, S. D. “History of the Plutonium Production Facilities at the Hanford Site Historic District - 1943 - 1990.” Technical Report. USDOE Office of Environmental Management, June 2002. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/807939.
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CDC. “Radiation Studies: The Hanford Thyroid Disease Study (HTDS) - Home | CDC RSB,” May 12, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/hanford/htdsweb/index.htm.
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D’Antonio, Michael.Atomic Harvest: Hanford and the Lethal Toll of America’s Nuclear Arsenal. Crown Pub, 1993.
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DOE. “About Hanford Cleanup - Hanford Site.” Accessed August 4, 2020. https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/AboutHanfordCleanup.
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———. “Tri-Party Agreement - Hanford Site.” Department of Energy. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/TriParty.
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Dorn Steele, Karen. “Hanford: America’s Nuclear Graveyard.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 45, no. 8 (October 1989): 15–23.
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———. “Hanford’s Bitter Legacy.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 44, no. 1 (January 1988): 17–23.
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———. “‘Human Guinea Pigs’ Sue Researchers | The Spokesman-Review.” The Spokesman-Review. December 8, 1995. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/dec/08/human-guinea-pigs-sue-researchers/.
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———. “Secret Report Rebuts Hanford Dose Study Hanford Radiation Releases May Have Been Much Worse Than Thought | The Spokesman-Review.” The Spokesman-Review. January 20, 1995. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/jan/20/secret-report-rebuts-hanford-dose-study-hanford/.
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Dorn Steele, Karen, and Jim Lynch. “River of Money at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation | The Spokesman-Review.” The Spokesman-Review. November 13, 1994. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1994/nov/13/river-money-hanford-nuclear-reservation/.
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EPA. This Is Superfund - YouTube. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9TcQCDEC8k.
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Exchange Monitor. “DOE Dramatically Hikes Estimates for Hanford Cleanup Costs -.” Exchange Monitor, February 8, 2019. https://www.exchangemonitor.com/doe-dramatically-hikes-estimates-hanford-cleanup-costs/.
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Farrow, Ronan, and Rich McHugh. “Welcome to ‘the Most Toxic Place in America.’” NBC News, November 29, 2016. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/welcome-most-toxic-place-america-n689141.
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Fox, Sarah. “Rooting for the Bombers: Commemoration, Forgetting, and Ways of Knowing in Richland, Washington.” Manuscript, n.d.
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Frame, Susannah. “Video Shows Illegal Dumping of Toxic Liquids at Hanford.” King5.Com, October 27, 2017. https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/hanford/video-shows-illegal-dumping-of-toxic-liquids-at-hanford/281-486466640.
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Franklin, Ben A. “KEY U.S. REACTOR TO SHUT 6 MONTHS FOR SAFETY STEPS.” The New York Times, December 13, 1986, sec. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/13/us/key-us-reactor-to-shut-6-months-for-safety-steps.html.
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Friedman, Sharon M. “Risk Communication, the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study and Draft Reports,” n.d., 17.
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Gallucci, Maria. “A Glass Nightmare: Cleaning Up the Cold War’s Nuclear Legacy at Hanford.” IEEE Spectrum, April 28, 2020. https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/military/a-glass-nightmare-cleaning-up-the-cold-wars-nuclear-legacy-at-hanford.
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Gephart, Roy E. “A Short History of Hanford.” Technical Report. Department of Energy, November 1, 2002. https://doi.org/10.2172/897390.
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Goldsmith, J. R., C. M. Grossman, W. E. Morton, R. H. Nussbaum, E. A. Kordysh, M. R. Quastel, R. B. Sobel, and F. D. Nussbaum. “Juvenile Hypothyroidism among Two Populations Exposed to Radioiodine.” Environmental Health Perspectives 107, no. 4 (April 1999): 303–8. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.99107303.
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Grossman, C. M., W. E. Morton, and R. H. Nussbaum. “Hypothyroidism and Spontaneous Abortions among Hanford, Washington, Downwinders.” Archives of Environmental Health 51, no. 3 (June 1996): 175–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/00039896.1996.9936012.
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Grossman, Charles M., Rudi H. Nussbaum, and Fred D. Nussbaum. “Cancers among Residents Downwind of the Hanford, Washington, Plutonium Production Site.” Archives of Environmental Health 58, no. 5 (May 2003): 267–74. https://doi.org/10.3200/AEOH.58.5.267-274.
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———. “Thyrotoxicosis among Hanford, Washington, Downwinders: A Community-Based Health Survey.” Archives of Environmental Health: An
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International Journal 57, no. 1 (January 1, 2002): 9–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00039890209602911. “Hanford Individual Dose Assessment Project,” n.d., 18.
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Hoffman, F. Owen, A. James Ruttenber, A. Iulian Apostoaei, Raymond J. Carroll, and Sander Greenland. “THE HANFORD THYROID DISEASE STUDY: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF THE FINDINGS.” Health Physics 92, no. 2 (February 2007): 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.HP.0000237628.04320.16. IN RE: HANFORD NUCLEAR RESERVATION LITIGATION, No. Nos. 98-36142 to 98–36144, 98–36147, 98–36149 and 98- 36173. (U.S. 9th Cir. June 18, 2002).
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Investigations, United States Congress House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and. Safety at DOE Nuclear Weapons Facilities: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, October 22, 1987, and May 11, 1988. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988.
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Johansen, Bruce E. Resource Exploitation in Native North America: A Plague upon the Peoples. ABC-CLIO, 2016.
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Kelleigh, Bea, and Rhonda Peterson. “Hanford Individual Dose Assessment Project - Final Report.” Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Oregon Department of Human Services Washington State Department of Health, December 2000. https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/4100/hanford_ida_final_r_.pdf.
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KING5. “‘Historic Victory’ in Hanford Legal Battle.” KING 5. KING5, September 19, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZbdI4KgLGM.
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Macuglia, Daniele. “Hanford and the Middle Ground between ‘Knowing’ and ‘Not Knowing.’” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, October 31, 2013. https://thebulletin.org/2013/10/hanford-and-the-middle-ground-between-knowing-and-not-knowing/.
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Mccombs, Brady. “Utah Exhibit Shows Nuclear Testing’s Downwind Effects.” phys.org, October 8, 2016. https://phys.org/news/2016-10-utah-nuclear-downwind-effects.html.
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Nalder, Eric. “HANFORD AUDITOR BREAKS HIS SILENCE -- RUUD BACKS UP REPORTS, EXPECTS REPRISAL:” Seattle Times, October 8, 1986, Third edition, sec. News.
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———. “PORTRAIT OF A RELUCTANT WHISTLEBLOWER.” Seattle Times, October 12, 1986, Suday edition, sec. News.
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Napier, B A, M D Freshley, R O Gilbert, H A Haerer, R E Rhoads, and R K Woodruff. “THE HANFORD ENVIRONMENTAL DOSE RECONSTRUCTION (HEDR) PROJECT: TECHNICAL APPROACH,” n.d., 9.
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Niles, Ken. “The Hanford Cleanup: What’s Taking so Long?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 70, no. 4 (July 1, 2014): 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096340214539115.
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Nussbaum, Rudi H., and Charles M. Grossman. “Environmental Contamination and Health Studies: Conflicts of Interest and Reasons for Community-Based Participatory Studies.” Archives of Environmental Health 58, no. 5 (May 2003): 261–62.
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NUSSBAUM, RUDI H., PATRICIA P. HOOVER, CHARLES M. GROSSMAN, and FRED D. NUSSBAUM. “Community-Based Participatory Health Survey of Hanford, WA, Downwinders: A Model for Citizen Empowerment.” Society & Natural Resources 17, no. 6 (July 1, 2004): 547–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920490452526.
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NWRHA. Event - Northwest Radiation Health Alliance Press Conference - 04/16/99, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5LUrXFvG8c.
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Ozasa, Kotaro, Eric J Grant, and Kazunori Kodama. “Japanese Legacy Cohorts: The Life Span Study Atomic Bomb Survivor Cohort and Survivors’ Offspring.” Journal of Epidemiology 28, no. 4 (April 5, 2018): 162–69. https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20170321.
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Pasley, James. “Inside America’s Most Toxic Nuclear Waste Dump, Where 56 Million Gallons of Buried Radioactive Sludge Are Leaking into the Earth.”
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Business Insider. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://www.businessinsider.com/hanford-nuclear-site-photos-toxic-waste-2019-9.
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Powers, Mary B. “US Sues DOE Cleanup Site Firms, Execs in Kickback Scheme.” Engineering News Record, February 13, 2019. https://www.enr.com/articles/46366-us-sues-lockheed-martin-and-units-in-hanford-site-kickback-scheme?v=preview.
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———. “Yakima Herald Republic | New Hanford Cleanup Price Tag Is $113.6B.” Engineering News Record, February 13, 2019. https://archive.vn/20140420194602/http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestlocalnews/1946068-8/new-hanford-cleanup-price-tag-is-1136b#selection-1059.11-1063.25.
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Pritikin, Trisha T. The Hanford Plaintiffs: Voices from the Fight for Atomic Justice. University Press of Kansas, 2020. https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-2904-6.html.
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———. “Insignificant and Invisible: The Human Toll of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study,” n.d., 28.
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“Radiation Studies: The Hanford Thyroid Disease Study (HTDS) - Home | CDC RSB,” May 12, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/hanford/htdsweb/index.htm.
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Reynolds, Tom. “Final Report of Hanford Thyroid Disease Study Released.” JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 94, no. 14 (July 17, 2002): 1046–48. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/94.14.1046.
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Schneider, Keith. “Inquiry Finds Illegal Surveillance of Workers in Nuclear Plants.” The New York Times, August 1, 1991, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/01/us/inquiry-finds-illegal-surveillance-of-workers-in-nuclear-plants.html.
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———. “Washington Nuclear Plant Poses Risk for Indians - The New York Times.” New York Times, September 3, 1990, sec. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/03/us/washington-nuclear-plant-poses-risk-for-indians.html.
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Sciences, National Academy of. Review of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study Draft Final Report, 1999. https://doi.org/10.17226/9738.
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CREDITS
This episode was produced Gordon Katic and Polly Leger. With editing support from Acey Rowe. Nicole Yakashiro was our research assistant, and Aurora Tejeida was our fact-checker.
Our theme song and original music is by our composer, Mike Barber. Dakota Koop is our graphic designer. Our production manager is David Tobiasz, and executive producers are Gordon Katic and Sam Fenn.
We’d like to thank historian Sarah Fox author of "Downwind: A People's History of the Nuclear West," as well as Kate Brown, author of “Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters.” Check those out, and also check out Michael D’Antonio’s “Atomic Harvest: Hanford and the Lethal Toll of America’s Nuclear Arsenal.” These books were indispensable to us, and we highly recommend them.
If you want to learn more about the Downwinder lawsuits against Hanford, we recommend: The Hanford Plaintiffs: Voices from the Fight For Atomic Justice. That’s from Trisha T. Pritikin, with a forward from Karen Dorn Steele
Thanks to the many others we talked to along the way-- including historians Linda M. Richards and Robert Franklin. As well as, Trisha Pritikin, Tom Carpenter, John Fox, and Maynard Plahuta. Thanks also to Karen Richards who helped record our interview with Patricia Hoover.
This episode was funded in part by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. It’s part of a larger project on the politics of historical commemoration. Professor Eagle Glassheim at the University of British Columbia is the academic lead on that project.
Cited is produced out of the Centre of Ethics at the University of Toronto, which is on the traditional land of Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat Peoples. Cited is also produced out of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia -- that’s on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.