Press kit
Principle Interviewees
Pauline Silvia was one of the only women scientists doing research on the effects of radiation from the atom bomb during the early 1950’s She joined the navy as a biologist and was assigned to the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco where she was sent to the Nevada Test Site and exposed to five of the eleven atomic detonations during “Operation Upshot-Knothole”.
Emiko Okada was 8 years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Her twelve year-old sister was never found. Most of her family, including her mother died in the following months. She has a daughter, who is also interviewed, and is actively campaigning for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.
Mary Palevsky is the Director of the Nevada Test Site Oral History Project sponsored by the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She is the author of Atomic Fragments: A Daughter’s Questions, which is a collection of interviews of scientists who worked with both of her parents on the Manhattan Project.
Andy Kirk, Ph.D, University of Nevada Las Vegas, is a historian with an emphasis on the American West and Environmental history. He has been a co-principal investigator for the Nevada Test Site Oral History Project.
Ray Harbert is an engineer who worked at Bikini Atoll during the largest U.S. hydrogen bomb test called Bravo, in 1954. He assisted in the removal of natives from the island of Ronjelap, many of whom, later died of thyroid cancer or leukemia. He also worked at the Nevada Test Site during Operation Plumbbob (1956-57) and managed the construction of the Atlas Missile Complex at Dyes AFB, Texas during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Dr. Shuntaro Hida was a 28 year-old Japanese Military doctor who survived the bombing after being called to a nearby village in the middle of the night to treat a young girl. He was one of the first doctors to respond and treated over 300 survivors a day with no medical supplies or knowledge of radiation illness. He has dedicated his life to treating survivors, the Hibakusha, and calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Dr. Helen Caldicott is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute. She is the author of several books including Missile Envy, Metal of Dishonor, If You Love This Planet, Nuclear Madness, The New Nuclear Danger, and Nuclear Power is Not the Answer.
