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Clip description
Two US weathermen were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation when the US exploded a test hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands in 1954. Lamont Noley believes their exposure was the result of insufficient knowledge and care. Don Baker believes it was deliberate, part of a strategy to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure on humans.
Curator’s notes
As well as hundreds of Marshallese who were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, a small number of US officials were also exposed. Their boat was one of many set up to monitor the weather conditions surrounding the blast and was stationed at Rongerik Atoll, on the edge of the nuclear fallout zone. These interviews are from two of the survivors, each of whom has a differing opinion as to what went wrong. O’Rourke’s technique of filming interviews in the subject’s homes, with normal family life going on around them, gives a real sense of immediacy and intimacy, making the content even more shocking. It is one of O’Rourke’s skills as an observational filmmaker. He gives his subjects the opportunity to speak for themselves and rarely uses narrative voice-over.
