B Reactor Health Physics Exhibit: An Order for Safety

The Order for Safety panel in the Health Physics Exhibit.

See exhibit panel for specific image credits.

Main Text
Text at the top right reads: “The tragedy of the Radium Girls, watch dial painters exposed to radium poisoning, provided a deeper understanding that radiation was harmful to people. Misadventures with radium and X-rays in the early 20th century provided a starting point for dealing with the new problem of radiation in an industrial workplace like the B Reactor.

“Herbert Parker reviewed the recommendations of the 1934 National Committee on X-Ray and Radium Protection and introduced controls for working with radiation in 1944, including the Special Work Permit (SWP).

“An SWP is a standardized list that instructs employees on how to conduct a specific task in a radiological zone including required protective clothing, time allotted to complete tasks, and required breaks. A health physicist developed an SWP for the task and workers reviewed them prior to starting the assignment. This form of standardized procedure became the basis of many of the nuclear safety protocols still used today.”

Text about the Radium Girls case continues in the center: “The Radium Girls case detailed the injuries and deaths suffered by women in the 1920s who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with luminous radium paint. Their employers denied any responsibility when the women pushed for compensation. In 1928, five women from a factory in New Jersey brought a lawsuit against their employer. Additional lawsuits followed in 1937 and 1938. The courts found in favor of the women, who by then had all passed away. The Manhattan Project issued mandatory safety guidelines for its workers based directly on radium safety standards. An official of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission wrote: ‘If it hadn’t been for those dial-painters, the [Manhattan] project’s management could have reasonably rejected the extreme precautions that were urgent and thousands of workers might well have been, and might still be, in great danger.’”

A caption reads: “An SWP would detail any protective gear that was required to complete a job, which the employees had to don before they could begin work.”

At the top, text reads: “Forgotten meters measure no radiation.” At the bottom, additional text reads: “Health Physics - For Your Protection.”

Exhibit Panel Description
On a poster entitled “An Order For Safety,” a black-and-white photograph shows a worker in a fully hooded protective suit and goggles inside the plant.

The first of two black-and-white photographs at the bottom of the poster show workers reviewing their SWP before beginning their task. The second shows a worker in a dressing room stepping into a white overgarment.

A cartoon at the lower right shows three animated radiation meters imploring a worker at the left to take them along.

Visit This Exhibit Panel
In-person visitation of the B Reactor is only authorized on guided tours offered by the Department of Energy.