Oppenheimer: How atomic tests may have spread cancer in US communities

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The success of the Oppenheimer film shed light on the work done by scientists who developed the first nuclear bomb in New Mexico. But 80 years later, some locals say their stories still haven’t been told. “I’ve lost count of how many uncles, aunts and cousins ​​have had cancer. And my family isn’t the only one,” says Tina Cordova GETTY IMAGES via BBC The success of the Oppenheimer film shed light on the work done by scientists who developed the first nuclear bomb in New Mexico. But 80 years later, some locals say their stories still haven’t been told. “Both of my grandfathers had cancer, both of my grandmothers had cancer, my father had cancer three times, my sister has cancer,” says Tina Cordova as she flips through the pages of a family album in the living room of her home. “I’ve lost count of how many uncles, aunts and cousins ​​have had cancer. And my family isn’t the only one.” Tina lives in Albuquerque, about a two-hour drive from where the atomic bomb was developed. She is part of one of the communities said to have been affected by radiation from the Trinity Test, which was the world’s first nuclear weapon detonation. ‘Oppenheimer’ is a beautiful, dense and long biography about the complex ‘father of the atomic bomb’ The test is at the center of the film directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, which follows the trajectory of the physicist and the team of scientists and engineers who worked with him to develop this bomb. The film, a favorite in several categories at the Oscars this Sunday, examines the moral conflicts of the men and women who changed the world with the work they did in the desert under a cloak of secrecy. But Tina Cordova says the film reveals nothing about the legacy of the atomic bomb that she says her family has lived with for generations. The detonation is a memorable moment in the film, with scientists given special sunglasses and gathering to watch their theories and calculations become reality. But the episode, according to Tina Cordova, had unexpected consequences. “We firmly believe that we were overexposed to radiation during the test bomb blast and also during the detonations that took place in Nevada,” says Tina, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 39. Her 23-year-old niece received the same diagnosis. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States. While a connection between radiation exposure and cancer has not yet been conclusively proven, Tina has documented hundreds of cases of families with many cases of the disease across multiple generations. One of them is Paul Pino, who says the penny dropped when he went to Tina’s talk about radiation a few years ago. “It was a brutal realization that hit us like an avalanche,” he recalls. Paul’s family lived about 50 kilometers from the Trinity Test site and, like Tina Cordova, he lost several of his relatives to cancer. His brother died of stomach cancer and his mother died of bone cancer. Her sister has thyroid cancer, her daughter had skin cancer and two aunts had brain tumors. The U.S. government has created funds to compensate people who lived in areas where the testing took place, but New Mexico has not yet been included. That could change now. Who was the real Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb Inspection team at the Trinity Test site in 1945 GETTY IMAGES via BBC An expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which would include residents of affected areas in New Mexico , is set to expire in June. This week, the Senate approved the bill. It now heads to the House, and the Biden administration has previously indicated that it supports the bill. When the atomic bomb was used on Japan, it effectively ended World War II. The death toll weighed on Oppenheimer’s conscience in the film, but the potential risks to people living in the United States itself were not explored in the script. “They [os responsáveis pelo filme] they never acknowledged the sacrifice or suffering of the people of New Mexico,” says Tina Cordova. Elsewhere in the state, the film is viewed less negatively – especially in Los Alamos, the secret city where Oppenheimer’s team developed the bomb. For residents of Los Alamos, it’s not the story the film tells that is resonating most, but rather its impact on the local economy. “Our little town was turned upside down,” says Todd Nickols, whose parents were scientists. “We were we were inundated with tourists.” In Los Alamos, the landscape is beautiful: the red rocks meet the blue sky as far as the eye can see. It’s a place for the best brains in the country to let their imagination run wild and make great scientific discoveries , away from curiosity and distractions. “My father was a nuclear physicist, my mother was a geneticist,” says Nickols. “And this was a wonderful place to grow up. We are proud of science, technology.” Oppenheimer’s name is omnipresent in the city. There is a street, a statue and several murals dedicated to him. Many of the residents were also extras in the film. Objects linked to Oppenheimer in the Museum of Los Alamos GETTY IMAGES via BBC “We’re certainly not glorifying the deaths caused by the bomb, not at all, because it was a horrible, horrible situation,” says Nickols. “But World War II was also horrible.” Today, scientists at Los Alamos still play an important role in producing components for nuclear warheads. As the American government modernizes its weapons, the laboratory has increased production. If you stopped a random person on the street and addressed them as “doctor,” you’d probably get it right. Los Alamos has the highest rate of PhDs per capita in the entire country. “My grandfather worked in the lab, my mother worked in the lab, I’m actually the first person in my family in three generations who didn’t go to work in the lab “, says Gerald Burns, who works in a bar that serves a beer called “Hoppenheimer” (“hop” is “hops” in English). The film was clearly good for business – the bar sells T-shirts with images of Oppenheimer and the phrase “no science, no beer.” But what about the moral aspects behind what all this symbolizes? “We have a very nuanced and balanced view of all of this,” he says. “We have respect and consideration for when things go wrong, or when they are used as weapons.” Others see the issue differently. In Albuquerque, a small group of peace protesters have come together to hold weekly demonstrations against the work that continues to happen at Los Alamos. “Say no to nuclear weapons,” the signs say. “Ban the bomb.” The leaflets they distribute say that the United States is using the laboratory to revive the nuclear race. As the Oscars ceremony approaches, Tina Cordova hopes the buzz surrounding the film will shed light on the health risks she says are clear and real. Without the people of New Mexico, there would be no research project and film about Oppenheimer, she says. “I think it was shameful. They had an opportunity to do something really incredible.” ‘Oppenheimer’ tells the story of a man who ‘changed the world’, says Christopher Nolan: ‘For better or worse’

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