Cold War Nuclear Tests

Trisha Pritikin: We are in Lynnwood, Washington. Karen, can you spell your name and say your name, please? Karen Dorn Steele: Yeah. So, my name’s Karen Dorn Steele. K-a-r-e-n D-o-r-n S-t-e-e-l-e. Pritikin: Okay. I’d like to start with having you tell us, please, about your early life overseas growing up as the child of a […]

Karen Dorn Steele is a journalist. As a reporter for the Spokesman Review, she broke the story about the Green Run test, in which the U.S. government released radioactive gases in 1949 over areas surrounding the Hanford Site. Subsequently, she covered the Hanford Downwinder Litigation, in which residents living around the Hanford Site from the […]

Cindy Kelly: I am Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation, in Washington, DC. It is June 27, 2018, and I have with me Glenn Schweitzer. My first question is to ask him to please say and spell his name. Glenn Schweitzer: I am Glenn Schweitzer, G-l-e-n-n S-c-h-w-e-i-t-z-e-r. Kelly: Perfect. Schweitzer: No errors. Kelly: He is doing […]

Cindy Kelly: It is Monday, May 14. I am in Palo Alto at Stanford University. I have with me Siegfried Hecker, and I would like him to say his name and spell it, please. Siegfried Hecker: I am Siegfried Hecker. S-I-E-G-F-R-I-E-D H-E-C-K-E-R. Kelly:  Great. Now, we have a very big agenda for you today in […]

Cynthia Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly. It is September 11, 2018. I have with me. Dennis Faulk. And my first question is to please say your name and spell it. Dennis Faulk: Dennis Faulk, D-E-N-N-I-S F-A-U-L-K. Kelly: Terrific.  Kelly: You had an illustrious career with the Environmental Protection Agency.  Faulk: It was a great place to […]

Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation. It is Tuesday, November 27, 2018, and I have with me Richard Rhodes. My first question for him is to please say his name and spell it. Richard Rhodes: Richard Rhodes, R-h-o-d-e-s. Kelly:  Okay. Richard wants to share some of his expertise on the history of the […]

Cindy Kelly: I am Cindy Kelly with the Atomic Heritage Foundation and it is Monday, May 14, 2018. I’m in Palo Alto with David Holloway. My first question for him is to please say his name and spell it. David Holloway: David Holloway, D-A-V-I-D H-O-L-L-O-W-A-Y. Kelly: Perfect. I would like to start with your telling […]

Cindy Kelly: We’ll start with a very simple question, which is what is your name and spell it. Richard McCardell: Okay. Richard McCardell. Last name is spelled M-c-C-a-r-d-e-l-l. Kelly:  Great. McCardell: I’m from Pocatello, Idaho. I was born, raised, and educated there. I moved to a farm from the city, because I pestered my parents because […]

Richard McCardell was a nuclear engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory. In this interview, McCardell explains the path he took towards his involvement in the Special Power Excursion Reactor Test, or “SPERT,” which was a series of reactor tests in Idaho Falls.  

Bill Wilcox: My name is Bill Wilcox. William J. Wilcox, Jr. Cindy Kelly: And how do you spell Wilcox? Wilcox: W-I-L-C-O-X. Kelly: Why was Oak Ridge chosen for the Manhattan Project? Wilcox: It was one of the first actions of the new Manhattan Project, under Colonel [James] Marshall in the early summer of 1942. They started […]