"Radiation is Not New to Our Lives": The US Atomic Energy Commission, Continental Atmospheric Weapons Testing, and Discursive Hegemony in the Downwind Communities

Drawing from the post-structuralist discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe and corpus linguistics techniques, we deconstruct the discursive strategies of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) during the era of continental atmospheric atomic testing in southern Nevada. The data consist of AEC pamphlets distributed in the "downwind" communities in 1953, 1955, and 1957 coincident with major test series. We illustrate discursive dominance hinged on the invocation of national security and instrumental rationality as key signifiers and portrayal of radioactive fallout as natural, ubiquitous, and controllable. Further, AEC discourse was predicated upon casting officials in a paternalistic role and residents of the rural communities downwind as best served though acquiescence to AEC authority and expertise. We conclude by highlighting the empirical evidence regarding the deleterious health effects of atmospheric atomic testing between 1951 and 1962 and argue examination of AEC discursive hegemony offers important lessons applicable to contemporary socio-technical controversies.