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American Morning
Unreleased Government Report Says Much of U.S. Blanketed with Varying Degrees of Radioactivity
Aired March 01, 2002 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to take a look at a disturbing unreleased study on the tragic fallout from radioactive fallout. A still unreleased, as I just said, government report, which was printed first yesterday in "USA Today," says much of the U.S. was blanketed with varying degrees of radioactivity from above-ground nuclear tests conducted in this country and overseas, and the consequences have been deadly.
CNN's environment correspondent Natalie Pawelski has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATALIE PAWELSKI (voice-over): Most nuclear explosions were not supposed to kill anyone. They were just tests aimed at proving what bombs could do in an age of neutrally-assured destruction, but kill they did. Government numbers say widespread fallout from the tests has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans so far.
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D), IOWA: Well, what we know I think is sort of maybe the tip of the iceberg here. We know that there has been upwards of perhaps 15,000 deaths that are attributable to these nuclear tests.
PAWELSKI: Congress ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare a major report on these hidden Cold War health risks. The study is overdue. The Department has given Congress a progress report, but critics on the Hill say that's not enough.
HARKIN: People have a right to know (AUDIO GAP) where the big areas of fallout were, and they need to be I think screened and told what to do to protect their health.
PAWELSKI: We may never know the names of the victims, because it's almost impossible to tie any one individual case of cancer directly with the tests. Who is to blame? Hard to say. When the damage was done, the world was at war, first hot, then cold.
ANNOUNCER: It's a bomb. Duck and cover. (Singing) Duck and cover.
PAWELSKI: Standards were different, and those doing the tests may not have realized all their potential impacts. But government fallout maps show how radioactive substances, even from tests far overseas, contaminated unexpected places.
ARIUN MAKHIJANI, INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: What is surprising and very new is that it has created intense hot spots in the continental United States all the way from California, Washington and Oregon to Vermont, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
PAWELSKI: And there is domestic fallout from the U.S. nuclear test site in Nevada, which also spread radiation far afield.
MAKHIJANI: In some areas, children got doses to the thyroids as high as the fallout areas from the Chernobyl accident.
PAWELSKI (on camera): Since the Manhattan Project, there have been more than 2,000 nuclear test denotations worldwide. Most above- ground testing ended 40 years ago, but some of the radioactive substances released into the atmosphere remain dangerous a lot longer than that.
(voice-over): More than a decade after it ended, the Cold Way may still be claiming victims.
Natalie Pawelski, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Ken Strickler is a victim of nuclear fallout and a 48- year-old survivor. He was treated for thyroid cancer three years ago, and he joins us this morning from Spokane, Washington -- thank you very much for being with us, sir.
KEN STRICKLER, NUCLEAR FALLOUT VICTIM: Thank you.
ZAHN: First of all, how is your health these days?
STRICKLER: Pretty good. I am on medication every day for the rest of my life, but it's much better than the alternative.
ZAHN: Well, that indeed, and happy to hear you are getting a little bit stronger. How did you find out that your cancer was linked to any nuclear test that was done?
STRICKLER: My mother and my sister had attended a meeting over near Challis, Idaho, where we grew up at, which is one of the hot spots, and were given that information at the time. And I was going through some symptoms, so with the information they gave me, I went in and saw a doctor, who then, through testing and everything, found out that I did have early stages thyroid disease. When treatment didn't respond, then they actually to remove the thyroid then.
ZAHN: Now, had anybody in your community ever speculated that in this remote area of Idaho that you had lived in that you would find -- you later found this out -- but that it would have high concentrations of -- what is it -- iodine 131 in its soil?
STRICKLER: We never really knew what was going on. However, in that area, all of us grew up drinking fresh cows milk, stuff like that, which is what I was told it was passed on to all of us. There is a high incidence of cancer in that area. It seems amazing all of the people that I know in that small community that have either passed away from cancer or have it right now.
ZAHN: Have you known any of the other victims in this small community, who have also gotten cancer?
STRICKLER: I have been away from the community for quite a while, but I am always getting the news. I have also been told just what another classmate of mine out of just 32 class members that has had thyroid cancer herself and a survivor.
ZAHN: And, Ken, you told us a little bit about the work that both your mother and sister did and informing you might very well have gotten your cancer from something related to a nuclear test. Has the government ever acknowledged to you or your family that it was potentially responsible for your illness?
STRICKLER: No, they haven't. I haven't received anything. It's just lately that any news has come out and identified any of the hot spot areas, even though the whole United States has received some type of radiation.
ZAHN: Has that left you bitter at all?
STRICKLER: Maybe not bitter, but just wondering and just wishing that they would -- now that it's out that that has come out, that if they would also put out what kind of symptoms people should be looking for, so that they could go see a doctor and be preventative medicine at this time, catch it in the early stages.
ZAHN: Which can end up saving your life, and, Ken, I appreciate your joining us this morning to alert people to what they could potentially be facing as well -- good luck to you, and once again, glad to hear you are gaining some strength.
STRICKLER: OK. Thank you.
ZAHN: Appreciate your getting up at this ungodly hour of the morning too.
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