THE NUCLEAR AGE IN POPULAR MEDIA PALGRAVE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY James Rodger Fleming (Colby College) and Roger D. Launius (National Air and Space Museum), Series Editors This series presents original, high-quality, and accessible works at the cutting edge of scholarship within the history of science and technology. Books in the series aim to disseminate new knowledge and new perspectives about the history of science and technology, enhance and extend education, foster pub- lic understanding, and enrich cultural life. Collectively, these books will break down conventional lines of demarcation by incorporating historical perspectives into issues of current and ongoing concern, offering interna- tional and global perspectives on a variety of issues, and bridging the gap between historians and practicing scientists. In this way they advance schol- arly conversation within and across traditional disciplines but also to help define new areas of intellectual endeavor. Published by Palgrave Macmillan: Continental Defense in the Eisenhower Era: Nuclear Antiaircraft Arms and the Cold War By Christopher J. Bright Confronting the Climate: British Airs and the Making of Environmental Medicine By Vladimir Janković Globalizing Polar Science: Reconsidering the International Polar and Geophysical Years Edited by Roger D. Launius, James Rodger Fleming, and David H. DeVorkin Eugenics and the Nature-Nurture Debate in the Twentieth Century By Aaron Gillette John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon By John M. Logsdon A Vision of Modern Science: John Tyndall and the Role of the Scientist in Victorian Culture By Ursula DeYoung Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology By Brian Regal The Nuclear Age in Popular Media: A Transnational History, 1945–1965 Edited by Dick van Lente The Nuclear Age in Popular Media A Transnational History, 1945–1965 Edited by Dick van Lente THE NUCLEAR AGE IN POPULAR MEDIA Copyright © Dick van Lente, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-34090-9 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-34364-5 ISBN 978-1-137-08618-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137086181 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The nuclear age in popular media : a transnational history, 1945–1965 / edited by Dick van Lente. p. cm.—(Palgrave studies in the history of science & technology) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Nuclear energy—History—20th century, 2. Nuclear energy—Press coverage. 3. Nuclear energy—Public opinion. I. Lente, Dick van. QC778.N77 2012 621.4809(cid:2)045—dc23 2012034275 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Introduction: A Transnational History of Popular Images and Narratives of Nuclear Technologies in the First Two Postwar Decades 1 Dick van Lente Chapter 2 Shaping the Soviet Experience of the Atomic Age: Nuclear Topics in Ogonyok, 1945–1965 19 Sonja D. Schmid Chapter 3 “To See … Things Dangerous to Come to”: Life Magazine and the Atomic Age in the United States, 1945–1965 53 Scott C. Zeman Chapter 4 Learning from War: Media Coverage of the Nuclear Age in the Two Germanies 79 Dolores L. Augustine Chapter 5 “Dawn—Or Dusk?”: Britain’s Picture Post Confronts Nuclear Energy 117 Christoph Laucht Chapter 6 Nuclear Power, World Politics, and a Small Nation: Narratives and Counternarratives in the Netherlands 149 Dick van Lente vi CONTENTS Chapter 7 Nuclear Power Plants in “The Only A-bombed Country”: Images of Nuclear Power and the Nation’s Changing Self-portrait in Postwar Japan 175 Hirofumi Utsumi Chapter 8 Promises of Indian Modernity: Representations of Nuclear Technology in the Illustrated Weekly of India 203 Hans-Joachim Bieber Chapter 9 Conclusion: One World, Two Worlds, Many Worlds? 233 Dolores Augustine and Dick van Lente Appendix I: Picture Essay: Images of Nuclear Power in Illustrated Magazines 249 Appendix II: Nuclear Issues in Eight Countries, 1945–1965 261 Notes on Contributors 265 Index 267 Illustrations Photographs AI.1 “ The First Publication of the Damages by Atomic Bombs” 250 AI.2 “ Six of These Destroy Germany” 251 AI.3 Advertisement for nasal drops 252 AI.4 T okaimura Research Institute 253 AI.5 L aunching of the nuclear icebreaker “Lenin” 253 AI.6 “Snipers of the atomic nucleus” 254 AI.7 “ The peaceful atom’s citadel” 255 AI.8 P avilion of “Atomic Energy for Peaceful Uses” 256 AI.9 “ Peace, progress, and communism” 257 AI.10 “Britain on the march: tens of thousands in Trafalgar Square” 258 AI.11 Atomic reactors in Africa 258 AI.12 “The atom cures. But doctor and nurse are exposed to danger” 259 AI.13 Helmuth Sohre confronts Honest John 260 Graphs AII.1 Nuclear Technology in Ogonyok (Soviet Union), 1945–1965 262 AII.2 Nuclear Technology in Life Magazine (United States), 1945–1965 262 viii ILLUSTRATIONS AII.3 Nuclear Technology in Stern (West Germany), 1945–1965 262 AII.4 Nuclear Technology in Neue Berliner illustrierte (East Germany), 1945–1965 262 AII.5 Nuclear Technology in Picture Post (United Kingdom), 1945–1965 263 AII.6 Nuclear Technology in Panorama (Netherlands), 1945–1965 263 AII.7 N uclear Technology in Asahigraph (Japan), 1945–1965 263 AII.8 Nuclear Technology in Illustrated Weekly of India (India), 1945–1965 263 Acknowledgments T his project has greatly profited from comments and encourage- ment we received at conference sessions where we presented our work in progress. We would like to thank in particular Menno Spiering, John Krige, Howard Segal, and Bill Luckin. Thomas Misa provided inspiration and insightful suggestions both in the early and in the final stages of our work. The two series editors at Palgrave, Roger Launius and Jim Fleming, helped us improve the coherence of the book. Sonja Schmid created a wiki for the project on Virginia Tech’s website that was very useful. Hans Bieber would like to thank Lucy and Godfrey Watt for their hospitality during his research stay in the British Library. Dolores Augustine received a great deal of help from the staff of the New York bureau of Stern Magazine, particularly Anuschka Tomat and Susanne Lapsien, and she would also like to thank Christopher Carron and Daniel Kaplan, graduate assistants as St. John’s University, New York, who assisted in identifying relevant articles in Stern and the Saturday Evening Post, respectively. Sonja Schmid is grateful to Virginia Tech’s interlibrary loan staff for the support in tracking down copies of Ogonyok, and the team in the European Reading Room at the Library of Congress, who gener- ously helped with last-minute fact-checking. Scott Zeman would like to thank Martin Riggenbach for all of his help in researching and collecting images from Life magazine. Hirofumi Utsumi thanks Yura Okamoto and Chihoko Aoki for their great interest and support in his research. I myself would like to express my deep gratitude to the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Study, where during the academic year 2006–2007, I had the opportunity to lay the groundwork for this book. Kees-Jan van Klaveren was a great research assistant, and Julian Schaap helped me with the graphs and the illustrations, and created the index. Finally, I am very grateful to all of my co-authors for their hard work, our spirited discussions, and their prompt and