Downwinders

In several Wayne High School graduating classes, approximately one-half of the students have suffered or died from cancer, and a much higher percentage than normal of Wayne County and Bicknell residents and former residents have died from downwinder-related cancers. In the 1950s and early 1960s, students attending schools in Bicknell often watched orange clouds move across the valley, remnants of mushroom clouds from above-ground nuclear explosions at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. As these clouds settled across the area, they released significant amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Particles entered the body through contaminated food, drinks, water, or air, and eventually led to cancer or birth defects. After numerous medical studies, these nuclear tests were determined to have caused various kinds of cancer, especially in growing, school-age children.

Bicknell, Utah · United States