Historical Photographs from Human Radiation Experiments

Clinical test of an artificial kidney developed by Argonne National Laboratory (circa 1970) (56Kbytes)

The automatic contouring system used at Argonne Cancer Research Hospital to determine how much radiation will penetrate to cancer tumors. (186Kbytes)

Positron emitter detector (circa 1962) used to detect brain tumors at Brookhaven National Laboratory (252Kbytes)

Medical activities at Brookhaven National Laboratory (171Kbytes)

The first patient to receive boron neutron capture therapy at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (1951). The patient is under the blanket visible in the mirror (top center). (138Kbytes)

Diagnostic test of iodine-131 thyroid uptake at Brookhaven National Laboratory. (156Kbytes)

A positron emitter detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory (circa 1965) (2681Kbytes)

Brookhaven National Laboratory used "phantoms" such as the mannequin on this wheeled table to approximate human radiation exposures (143Kbytes)

A Brookhaven technician demonstrating fast-neutron detection equipment (216Kbytes)

Brookhaven Low-Level Whole Body Counting Facility (circa 1968) (126Kbytes)

A patient receiving treatment at Brookhaven (138Kbytes)

Study of carbohydrate-lipid metabolism at Brookhaven (160Kbytes)

A parkinsonian patient before (left) and during administration of L-dopa at Brookhaven. Radioactive materials were useful in the development of L-dopa. (160Kbytes)

A subscale model of the nuclear reactor used for medical research and treatment at Brookhaven National Laboratory (152Kbytes)

A facility at Hanford for treating persons injured by embedded radioactive particles (circa 1967). In this shielded operating cell, a mock patient is flanked by a surgeon (right) and a radiation monitor (left). (242Kbytes)

Plutonium separation building ("canyon") at Hanford. (221Kbytes)

Measuring intentional radiation release at the Idaho experimental dairy farm (1964). (195Kbytes)

Measuring intentional radiation releases at the Idaho experimental dairy farm (circa 1964). (132Kbytes)

Wright Langham being placed in the first whole body radiation counter at Los Alamos. (233Kbytes)

Los Alamos chemist Wright Langham and a "plastic man" used to simulate human radiation exposures (193Kbytes)

Wright Langham (left) introduces the "plastic man" to Los Alamos Director Norris Bradbury. The figure was used to simulate human radiation exposures. (169Kbytes)

A whole body radiation counter at Los Alamos (circa 1958). (360Kbytes)

A counter being used at Los Alamos to measure plutonium in the lung. (207Kbytes)

Early method of handling radioactive sources at Los Alamos. (184Kbytes)

A Los Alamos Radioactive Lanthanum (RaLa) test in Bayo Canyon. (221Kbytes)

A whole body counter (circa 1964) at the Berkeley Donner Laboratory. Such counters were used in human radiation tracer studies and for measuring AEC worker radiation exposure. (294Kbytes)

Early treatment for Parkinson's disease at the Berkeley Donner Laboratory (134Kbytes)

Donner Laboratory carbon-14 metabolic study apparatus (146Kbytes)

Respiration analysis using injected radioactive tracers at Donner Laboratory (circa 1968). (217Kbytes)

A patient under a positron camera. The camera was a diagnostic tool developed at Donner Laboratory, Berkeley, to photograph radioactive tracer concentrations. Unlike a whole body scanner, this device photographs a single, specific area of the body. (146Kbytes)

A kidney examination using a scintillation camera at Donner Laboratory, Berkeley. (152Kbytes)

A patient prepared for treatment with charged atomic particles at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) (265Kbytes)

Early use of a Geiger-Miller counter to test thyroid function at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. (260Kbytes)

Joseph Hamilton (left) conducting one of the first isotope metabolism studies during the 1930s. The study took place at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory). (173Kbytes)

A nuclear reactor sitting on a test cell pad prior to preliminary tests at the Nevada Test Site (circa 1968). This Phoebus 2 design was part of the Rover project to develop a nuclear-propelled rocket capable of interplanetary travel. (PHOTO: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) (211Kbytes)

An AEC inspector checking radiation equipment for safety at Oakland Navy Hospital (circa 1973). (207Kbytes)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory workers checking for radioactive contaminants (circa 1950) (312Kbytes)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory workers turning in their pocket dosimeters (circa 1950). Various types of dosimeters were worn by workers to measure radiation doses and prevent excessive exposure. (233Kbytes)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory workers checking for radioactive contaminants (circa 1950) (312Kbytes)

Oak Ridge technicians measuring air monitor samples for radiation (158Kbytes)

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory employee having a blood test to detect radiation exposure (circa 1950). (169Kbytes)

Aerial view of the Oak Ridge X-10 facility (1945), which served as a pilot for the Hanford plutonium production reactors. After World War II, the facility produced isotopes for national distribution. (PHOTO: U.S. ARMY) (201Kbytes)

Oak Ridge health physics technicians monitoring a cafeteria for radiation. (161Kbytes)

Oak Ridge technicians reading dosimeters to detect worker radiation exposures. (146Kbytes)

An Oak Ridge isotope worker (right) and a health physics technician (circa 1950). (147Kbytes)

Isotope processing buildings, Oak Ridge. (129Kbytes)

Production of Isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ca. 1946. (197Kbytes)

Measuring beta radiation from a sample of phosphorous-32 at Oak Ridge. (180Kbytes)

Separating radioactive carbon from material bombarded in the Oak Ridge nuclear reactor. (206Kbytes)

Glenn T. Seaborg, discoverer of plutonium and Chairman of the AEC, 1961 to 1971 (145Kbytes)

A horizontal rotational scanner used to detect the quantity and distribution of radiation in the body (173Kbytes)

A mobile whole body counter (1966). (245Kbytes)

A conventional whole body counter (circa 1964). (153Kbytes)

Experimental cardiac pacemaker powered by plutonium. ca. 1968. (121Kbytes)

Checking radioactivity after a Controlled Environmental Radioiodine Test (CERT) in 1966. (167Kbytes)

A Richland, WA, child participating in a program to measure radiation typically present in the body. This 1960s project took place at Pacific Northwest Laboratory. (219Kbytes)

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