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"Friendly Fallout 1953 is a hybrid work of literature that combines the actual history of aboveground atomic testing in the Nevada desert in 1953 with fictional vignettes that explore the impact of the tests on the people who participated in them and on civilian "downwinders." While most of the details are factual, the characters are imaginary composites of men, women, and children affected by the testing program in that fateful year. Some were visitors, like a newspaper reporter and a Las Vegas showgirl. Some--like a radiation specialist, a meteorologist, a secretary, a soldier, and a physicist--lived and worked at the desert proving ground. Still others--a teenage girl, a Paiute boy, a Mormon mother--were unwitting participants when the friendly fallout came their way. Their stories bring to life a turbulent era when Cold War fears, patriotic enthusiasm, scientific progress, and unacknowledged political agendas often collided with the welfare of ordinary citizens and the environment." "Ronald compellingly evokes the test explosions in all their terrifying magnificence and explores the diverse and sometimes conflicting emotions of a generation that saw atomic energy as its best protection against the horrors of another world war, even to the sacrifice of the innocent people, wildlife, and livestock that became accidental victims in this search for national power and security."--Jacket.

Nuclear weapons --- Nevada Test Site (Nev.)