did
not
"constitute
Americans.
any ‘real
hazard
to
the
immediate
health"
of
In January 1956 he revealed that the Commission had been
studying the hazards of fallout worldwide under the name of Project
Sunshine.
Project Sunshine scientists labeled strontium 90 as the most
hazardous radioisotope in fallout and created a worldwide network to
monitor its presence in humans, foods, and soils.
Libby, who became the
Cammission's spokesman on fallout, subsequently released more scientific
data on fallout through a series of highly technical speeches .?/
Toward Nuclear Test Ban Negotiations
As fears of fallout rose so did fears of the ultimate consequences
of the nuclear arms race.
President Eisenhower,
fully aware that a
nuclear war could result in "civilization destroyed" and "the arnihilation of the
irreplaceable heritage of mankind handed down
ts us
generation from generation” was firmly committed to halting the nuclear
arms race.
To inject life into deadlocked disarmament negotiations he
took the unprecedented step of appointing Harold Stassen to a cabinet
level post for developing disarmament policy.
At the Geneva conference
in 1955, the President offered to exchange blueprints of military
facilities with the Russians; meanwhile, he prodded Harold Stassen <o
devise a comprehensive disarmament plan.
To the Conmissio's cisvay
Stassen seemed all too willing to separate the test ban issue “mom
The Commission argued thet a
properly supervised ban on weapon tests should be an integral part of
comprehensive disarmament agreement with the Russians.7°
pe
comprehensive disarmament negotiations.
The weapes
program was so firmly linked to ams control issues that the Commission
would
have
to
manage
the
program
negotiations.
IR
with
one
eye
on
arms
conic.