Restricted data : the history of nuclear secrecy in the United States / Alex Wellerstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wellerstein, Alex, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear weapons information, American--Access control.

Nuclear weapons information, American.

Defense information, Classified--United States.

Defense information, Classified.

United States.

Physical Description:

549 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2021.

Summary:

"Nuclear weapons, since their conception, have been the subject of secrecy. In the months after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the American scientific establishment, the American government, and the American public all wrestled with what was called the "problem of secrecy," wondering not only whether secrecy was appropriate and effective as a means of controlling this new technology but also whether it was compatible with the country's core values. Out of a messy context of propaganda, confusion, spy scares, and the grave counsel of competing groups of scientists, what historian Alex Wellerstein calls a "new regime of secrecy" was put into place. It was unlike any other previous or since. Nuclear secrets were given their own unique legal designation in American law ("restricted data"), one that operates differently than all other forms of national security classification and exists to this day. Drawing on massive amounts of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time at the author's request, Restricted Data is a narrative account of nuclear secrecy and the tensions and uncertainty that built as the Cold War continued. In the US, both science and democracy are pitted against nuclear secrecy, and this makes its history uniquely compelling and timely"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I The Birth of Nuclear Secrecy p. 13

Chapter 1 The Road to Secrecy: chain Reactions, 1939-1942 p. 15

1.1 The fears of fission p. 15

1.2 From self-censorship to government control p. 26

1.3 Absolute secrecy p. 38

Chapter 2 The "Best-Kept Secret of the War": The Manhattan Project, 1942-1945 p. 51

2.1 The heart of security p. 52

2.2 Leaks, rumors, and spies p. 64

2.3 Avoiding accountability p. 77

2.4 The problem of secrecy p. 82

Chapter 3 Preparing for "Publicity Day": A Wartime Secret Revealed, 1944-1945 p. 97

3.1 The first history of the atomic bomb p. 98

3.2 Press releases, public relations, and purple prose p. 105

3.3 Secrecy from publicity p. 118

Part II The Cold War Nuclear Secrecy Regime p. 133

Chapter 4 The Struggle for Postwar Control, 1944-1947 p. 135

4.1 Wartime plans for postwar control p. 136

4.2 "Restricted Data" and the Atomic Energy Act p. 145

4.3 Oppenheimer's anti-secrecy gambits p. 158

Chapter 5 "Information Control" and the Atomic Energy Commission, 1947-1950 p. 179

5.1 The education of David Lilienthal p. 180

5.2 The "thrashing" of reform p. 196

5.3 Three shocks p. 209

Chapter 6 Peaceful Atoms, Dangerous Scientists: The Paradoxes of Cold War Secrecy, 1950-1969 p. 233

6.1 The H-bomb's silence and roar p. 234

6.2 Dangerous minds p. 249

6.3 Making atoms peaceful and profitable p. 270

Part III Challenges to Nuclear Secrecy p. 285

Chapter 7 Unrestricted Data: New Challenges to the Cold War Secrecy Regime, 1964-1978 p. 287

7.1 The centrifuge conundrum p. 288

7.2 The perils of "peaceful" fusion p. 300

7.3 Atoms for terror p. 319

Chapter 8 Secret Seeking: Anti-Secrecy at the End of the Cold War, 1978-1991 p. 335

8.1 Drawing the H-bomb p. 338

8.2 The "dream case": The Progressive v. The United States p. 351

8.3 Open-source intelligence in a suspicious age p. 368

Chapter 9 Nuclear Secrecy and Openness after the Cold War p. 385.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226020389

022602038X

OCLC:

1178870332