Human Experiment Reactions Premature

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h i y thls tmek, news repOrcs that Haaford Nuclear Reservation had formed radiatiou-exposuk tests on uans provoked a swift, reaction m Hanford’s critics. They likened it be zotorious human “erpyiments” mie there is m u d for which H=- d justly can be cmdemn’ed. these leriments. in the light of further int and foremost in malicious acts of berate tome and racial genocide ’hrs is not to saxr the, Banford iacion experiments were above These experiments must be wed in the scientific context in Lich they occurred - not in light today’s heightened knowledge of icism, bur they do not delong in er’s league of unmitigated malice 1 fact, they cannot even be classed 1 certain other Haniord activities . were conducted in an atmosphere kreq and deliberate concealment lazarcis from the public: for the t of fanhemg the gove\rnment’s does belong in that category was experimental 1949 release of ractive iodtne into the atmosphere The two experments on h-. however, produced siignificant fiadingS that were published in scientific jour* nai articles, as all reputable research is. they do Bot qualify as sinister activities of a secretive government. hwnaa subjects received oral a d intravenous doses of radioactive TMhetium, was designed t o help develo exof medicine, metallurgy and nadear weapons production who handle ‘ k h - nerium. Scientists needed better information about the extent to which Technetium lodges in bodily 0%- and how long it takes to dissipate The renetium as it moved througb the s u b jtcts’ bodies and was excreted. In the other erperimenr lasting from 1963 to 1971, 64 inmate3 in the state pexutentiary at Walla Walla had tbeir testicla exposed to X-rays and subsequently were monitored for genetic and other effects on their sperm. Only inmates who agreed to a subsequent vascecromy were accepted for the experiment. The chief researcher says those who agreed to artrdpare had been forewarned of !am&. were asked to report any long-term abnormalities and were promised treaunenc for arty that devefTU erpeimtnt was instigated not by the government but bp a physician at the University of Washington who was fmtrated by inadequate scientific knowledge regarding the eifects of radiation on human tesucles. The issue was impon;int to the safety of Ranford em loyees. among others. publish in scientific journals and. accoding to the physician who conducted it, have proved wfuL in the scienyic cp radiation. It p par inmates - for ex; inmate already ha healthy hyqe no lowed. as it pnce w The dmgd in SI priate. .Qlso, in Iig edge about tadiai occurs now: epide lived near pernot it should hjive bc for that we can be must be viewed a in which they e of the risks of I, and now allow vodd benefit the pIe, the use of an To attempt to inrtic damage on a nger would be aithat which in fact iolagical study of . ta radiauon. such or Soviets who le because it does t. La fact, it is now