The Health Physics Exhibit at the B Reactor, part of Manhattan Project National Historical Park, traces the rise of health physics — the science of protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation. The Manhattan Project brought a new kind of workplace, and one panel, "Learning From the Past for a Safe Future," shows how workers were protected in it.
The lessons already learned
When the program began, the deaths and injuries caused by radium compounds and by overexposure to X-rays in medicine were fresh in everyone's minds. Those cases, together with growing legal protections for workers, formed the backdrop for the safety programs built for Manhattan Project atomic workers.
Dressing by the job
Under Herbert Parker's leadership, strict procedures were written for putting protective clothing on (donning) and taking it off (doffing). The level of protection depended on the work:
| Job | What the worker wore |
|---|---|
| Typical radiological work | "whites" — coveralls and a cap |
| Working with water | an apron and boots over the whites |
| Working near the reactor face | gloves, coveralls, hood, mask and a second layer of clothing |
The procedures set out step-by-step instructions to follow every time a worker got ready for a job and every time one was finished. Protective clothing came off into designated laundry bins for cleaning. Photographs on the panel show the locker room, covered in detailed signs telling workers what to do and where.
Paid to change
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) requires employers, in some circumstances, to pay workers for the time spent putting on and taking off protective clothing. Before the FLSA, the panel notes, employers didn't have to pay for that time; afterwards, they did.
Seeing it
The panel is in the B Reactor, which can be visited in person only on guided tours run by the Department of Energy.
Sources
Based on "B Reactor Health Physics Exhibit: Learning From the Past for a Safe Future," National Park Service, Manhattan Project National Historical Park; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The photograph of the panel, which reproduces images credited on the panel itself, is left out; rewritten in hubnx's own words.
In these publicationsManhattan Project National Historical Park
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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