Radiation, Health and Politics in America, 1920-1990

随着原子弹在广岛和长崎的爆炸，整个世界开始意识到迄今为止只有少数人知道的事情：蕴藏在原子中的巨大能量。在军事上和民用上使用这种力量，成为战后时代的一个主要目标。然而，原子能所带来的辐射带来了科学家不得不研究的严重问题。他们如何在美国进行这项研究是本研究的主题。Whittemore博士正在分析科学、法律和伦理在人类辐射暴露限制研究中的相互作用。正是建立这样的标准，人们才会发现科学、伦理和法律问题最复杂、最复杂的混合。本研究的重点是美国辐射标准的历史，从1928年x射线和镭防护咨询委员会成立到1970年联邦辐射委员会解散，其职能转移到环境保护署，然后一直到现在。Whittemore博士是人类辐射实验咨询委员会的高级政策和研究分析师。该委员会由克林顿总统于1994年任命，他们发现并收集了许多文件，这些文件使战后政府在这一领域的机密研究成为可能。委员会还与一直活跃在该领域的科学家进行了一些口述历史访谈。Whittemore博士将在他的研究中使用这些文件和访谈。

With the explosion of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the entire world became aware of what had heretofore been known only to a few: the enormous energy which lay dormant in the atom. The use of this power, both militarily and for civilian purposes, became a major goal in the postwar era. Yet the radiation which atomic power entailed posed serious problems which scientists had to study. How they undertook this research in the United States is the subject of this research. Dr. Whittemore is analyzing the interaction of science, law and ethics in research on radiation exposure limits for human beings. It is the establishment of such standards that one finds the most sophisticated and complex mixture of scientific, ethical and legal issues. This study focuses on a history of radiation standards in the United States from the founding of the Advisory Committee on X-Ray and Radium Protection in 1928 to the disbanding of the Federal Radiation Council in 1970, when its functions were transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency and then on to the present. Dr. Whittemore was Senior Policy and Research Analyst for the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. This Committee, appointed by President Clinton in 1994, uncovered and collected many of the documents which make possible a postwar history into classified government research in this area. The Committee also conducted a number of oral history interviews with scientists who have been active in the field. It is this collection of documents and interviews that Dr. Whittemore will use in his research.