Final Script 1

Radioactive
Documentary by: Alicia Beach, Emma Lee, and Leslie Twitchell

{MusicHomegrown by Zac Brown Band}

Introduction/History (approximately 1 minutes)

Begin documentary with pictures of St. George in the 1950s
Video of Leslie and Emma on the red hill facing west
{End music}
[Blank screen] The federal government prepares for the Cold War
Video of Emma on the red hill and pictures of bombs
[put Emmas name at bottom of the screen for about 4 seconds]
[Emma] On January 27, 1951, Able, the first nuclear bomb detonated on US soil since
1945, exploded on a dry lake-bed known as Frenchman Flat at the designated
nuclear test site in Nevada. Over the next decade, the majority of tests performed
at Frenchman Flat occurred above-ground to determine the bombs value as
weapons of war.
[cite quote in credits at the end of documentary Dawn of a Thousand
Suns by Samir S. Patel and Barry Yeoman]
[Picture of Frenchman Flatcite in credits at the end of documentary
downwindhistory.com by Sarah Alisabeth Fox]
The majority of US nuclear testing occurred in the Nevada desert. Nearly 1,000
bombs were detonated over the next 40 years both above and below ground, and
were given names such as Simon, Buster Charlie, Buster Dog, Grable, Dog 3,
George, Fizeau, Smokey, and Met (give a brief description of why the scientists
named the bombs).
[Pictures of each of the bombscite in credits at the end of documentary
http://www.abomb1.org/testpix/)]
As a Dixie Junior College alumni, and friend of Dixie State University, Dr. Craig
L. Booth shares his experiences as a St. George resident during the time of
nuclear testing in Nevada. As a downwinder himself, Doctor Booth expresses
his thoughts from a physicians point of view and sheds insight on the testing and
effects on the residents of St. George, Utah.
Fading transition to Dr. Booth
 Final Script 2

Body: Outside Contributor/Interview with Dr. Craig L. Booth (approximately 5

minutes)
{Insert video of interview}
[Dr. Booth] What St. George looked like in 1950s
{Insert picture of St. George Aerial (cite at end in credits)}
[Dr. Booth] Why he went into medicine/negatives and rewards
{Insert picture of Dr. Booth (cite at end in credits)}
[Dr. Booth] Family members with cancer
[Dr. Booth] Brother and Carl Brooks in movie the AEC produced
[Audio] Radio broadcast from the 1950s
{Insert picture of 1950s family (cite at end in credits)}
[Blank screen] There is no danger. -Atomic Energy Commission
[Dr. Booth] His experiences watching the bombs on the Sugarloaf
{Insert pictures of modern-day St. George from on top of the Sugarloaf}
[Dr. Booth] There were engineers who knew the radiation was dangerous for people
[Emma] Regardless of whether the government admits the devastating consequences of the
nuclear testing in Nevada, it is obvious that the southern Utah population has been
greatly affected.
[Dr. Booth] 20-30 engineers quit the project when they realized what it was doing to people
[Blank screen] If only the government would have said
[Dr. Booth] People got thyroid cancer through drinking cows milk. Federal government
funded study but pulled it.
[Dr. Booth] Irma Thomas
{Insert pictures of Irmas drawing of neighborhood (cite at end in credits)}
[Dr. Booth] Normal cancer percentages in population/radiation increased cancer
{Insert pictures of radioactive signs (cite at end in credits)}

Conclusion (approximately 1 minute)

[Emma] In August of 1980, the US House of Representative Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations stated, All evidence suggesting that radiation was having
 Final Script 3

harmful effects, be it on the sheep or the people, was not only disregarded but
actually suppressed. (cite quote on bottom of the screen)
[Dr. Booth] Senator Hatch gave bunch of money to build first cancer center in St. George/no
one ever apologized

Rolling credits (approximately 30 seconds)

SPECIAL THANKS
Dr. Craig Booth with title

PRODUCTION CREW
Alicia Beach, Emma Lee, and Leslie Twitchell

MUSIC/AUDIO
Homegrown by Zac Brown Band

Atomic Bomb Test in Mercury, NV Historic Film 40982

youtube.com/watch?v=QL_Yzlhaqpby

PICTURES
Postcard/St. George Aerial/Irmas List
Dixie State University Special Collections

Frenchmans Flat
By Sarah Alisabeth Fox downwindhistory.com

Atomic Bombs
Trinity Atomic Website www.abomb1.org/testpix/

Dr. Craig L. Booth

Washington Historical Society http://wchsutah.org/people/craig-booth.php
 Final Script 4

Family 1950s
troyeckhardt.com

64 Years After Nuclear Tests Mohave Countys Downwinders Still Wait for
Compensation (radioactive picture 1)
Havasunews.com

American Ground Zero (radioactive picture 2)

By Carole Gallagher

ARTICLES
Dawn of a Thousand Suns
By Samir S. Patel and Barry Yeoman

50 Years Later, The Tragedy of Nuclear Test in Nevada

By Norman Solomon

Interview Questions for Dr. Booth

Leslie asks Dr. Booth questions while Alicia and Emma film the interview
1. How old were you when you saw the flashes and felt the rumblings from the nuclear
testing in Nevada, and what can you compare it to?

2. Did you or any of your family members suffer any physical effects such as cancer from
the nuclear testing?

3. When did you begin researching the connection between cancer and nuclear testing, and
what did you find?

4. How many years have you practiced medicine and why did you become a doctor?

5. Can you recall how many cases of cancer you encountered over the years, and how many
of those cases do you believe were related to the nuclear testing? What cancer did you see
most often?
 Final Script 5

6. Did St. George residents understand the consequences of the testing, and did they trust
the governments insistence that it was safe?

7. Why do you think the government hid the dangers of radiation from the public?

8. In an interview with Tony Sams, you said that if the government has to say they are
transparent, then theyre not. Will you expand on that?

9. With the tensions over nuclear weapons between the U.S. and North Korea, what would
you say to persuade powerful leaders such as President Trump and North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un to discontinue the creation and testing of nuclear weapons?