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The Accidental Whistleblower: How Kodak Film Unveiled the Secrets of the Nuclear Bomb, a Veritasium Investigation |
Inspired by Veritasium, explore how seemingly defective Kodak film inadvertently exposed the radiation and radioactive fallout from atomic bomb testing, including the Trinity test of the Manhattan Project, a story with unexpected science and physics implications. Also, a brief mention of HBO Max's "Raised By Wolves" for context........................
Inspired by Veritasium, explore how seemingly defective Kodak film inadvertently exposed the radiation and radioactive fallout from atomic bomb testing, including the Trinity test of the Manhattan Project, a story with unexpected science and physics implications. Also, a brief mention of HBO Max's "Raised By Wolves" for context.
As often presented by Veritasium, the world of science and physics is full of unexpected discoveries. One such intriguing story involves the Kodak film company and its inadvertent role in revealing the effects of nuclear bomb testing. This wasn't a case of whistleblowing, but rather the inherent sensitivity of photographic film to radiation that brought the unseen consequences of these powerful explosions to light. This exploration, inspired by Veritasium, delves into how Kodak's product exposed the radioactive fallout from atomic bomb tests, including the very first one, codenamed Trinity, part of the Manhattan Project. We'll examine the types of radiation involved, such as alpha and beta particles, and the surprising way a film company on the other side of the country became an unlikely detector of the nuclear age. Speaking of compelling narratives, you can find the thought-provoking series "Raised By Wolves" streaming on HBO Max, which explores a post-apocalyptic future – a theme somewhat resonant with the implications of nuclear events. You can Watch Raised By Wolves and even find the "Raised By Wolves Trailer" on HBO Max.
The Defective Film: An Unintentional Geiger Counter
The story began with a peculiar problem at Kodak in New York State. They started finding that undeveloped x-ray film was showing small dark spots, indicating exposure to radiation even though the film had never been opened. This wasn't entirely new; during World War II, the use of radioactive radium in glow-in-the-dark dials had occasionally contaminated recycled paper used in film packaging, emitting alpha particles and fogging the film. Kodak had even adjusted its supply chain to mitigate this.
However, in August 1945, a batch of strawboard from a mill in Vincennes, Indiana, used as interleaving in x-ray film, began causing similar spots. Julian Webb, a scientist at Kodak, was tasked with investigating. He measured the alpha particle emissions from the strawboard but found levels not significantly above background, ruling out radium and other natural alpha emitters. However, when he measured beta radiation, he found significant activity that matched the fogging on the film. Unlike alpha particles, beta particles could penetrate the film packaging. Over several months, Webb determined the half-life of the radioactive contaminant to be around 30 days. This, combined with the energy of the beta particles, led him to a startling conclusion: the contaminant was likely cerium-141, an isotope that could only originate from a nuclear fission explosion.
Further investigation revealed the same contaminant in paper from another Kodak mill in Tama, Iowa, hundreds of kilometers away. The source? The first atomic bomb test, Trinity, in the New Mexico desert on July 16th, 1945.
The Nuclear Fallout's Reach
When that first nuclear bomb exploded, the plutonium core underwent a fission chain reaction, splitting nuclei and releasing vast energy and neutrons. This process also produced hundreds of different radioactive nuclei, which were carried high into the stratosphere within the mushroom cloud. These particles were then dispersed by air currents. In this case, the wind carried them over a thousand kilometers to Iowa and Indiana. Rain then captured some of these radioactive particles, causing them to fall out of the sky – radioactive fallout. This contaminated river water used by the Kodak paper mills, leading to the cerium-141 fogging their x-ray film and unintentionally exposing the secret of the U.S. nuclear test.
News of Kodak's detection reached scientists at Los Alamos, the heart of the Manhattan Project, who were keen to learn more about the amount and characteristics of the radioactive fallout Webb had detected. Although Webb completed his experiments by the end of 1945, he didn't publish his findings until 1949, likely recognizing the sensitivity of this information, especially given his own past work on the Manhattan Project at Berkeley and Oak Ridge.
A Silent Agreement: Film vs. Public Health
Kodak, understanding the potential for their film to be damaged by future nuclear testing, installed air samplers to monitor for fallout. Following the first atomic bomb test in Nevada in 1951, Kodak detected radioactive fallout at their headquarters in Rochester, New York. Geiger counters registered levels 25 times the normal background after a snowstorm. Kodak initially threatened to sue the U.S. government for the damage. However, instead of a lawsuit, an agreement was reached: the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) would provide Kodak and the wider photographic industry with advance warnings about upcoming tests and predicted fallout patterns. In return, the company agreed to remain quiet about the radioactive fallout.
From 1951 to 1963, the U.S. conducted a hundred above-ground nuclear tests in Nevada, resulting in widespread radioactive fallout across the country. This fallout contained various radioactive isotopes, including iodine-131 and strontium-90, which entered the food supply and posed significant health risks, particularly increasing the risk of thyroid cancer and bone cancer/leukemia. Despite this, the information shared with the public about the dangers of radioactive fallout was often limited.
Frequently Asked Questions: Kodak, Nuclear Testing, and Radioactive Fallout
Q: How did Kodak discover nuclear testing?
A: Kodak inadvertently discovered evidence of nuclear testing when their undeveloped x-ray film started showing unexplained dark spots. A Kodak scientist traced this fogging to radioactive fallout contaminating the cardboard used in the film's packaging, originating from the Trinity test.
Q: What is radioactive fallout?
A: Radioactive fallout refers to the radioactive particles that are released into the atmosphere during a nuclear explosion (like an atomic bomb test) and subsequently fall back to the ground.
Q: What are alpha and beta particles, and how were they relevant to Kodak's discovery?
A: Alpha particles and beta particles are types of radiation. While initial fogging of Kodak film from natural sources was linked to alpha particles, the fogging linked to nuclear fallout showed significant beta radiation, which helped scientists identify the source as nuclear fission products.
Q: What was the Manhattan Project's Trinity test?
A: The Trinity test, part of the Manhattan Project, was the first detonation of a nuclear bomb. The radioactive fallout from this test was what ultimately fogged Kodak's film.
Q: How did Kodak's findings impact the understanding of nuclear testing?
A: Kodak's discovery provided early, unintentional evidence of the widespread reach of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests, highlighting that these events had consequences far beyond the immediate test site.
Q: Did Kodak work with the US government after this discovery?
A: Yes, Kodak and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission reached an agreement where Kodak would receive advance warnings about future nuclear tests to protect their film, and in return, Kodak would keep quiet about the radioactive fallout findings.
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