The Time Nuclear Fallout Fell On Troy, New York
The nuclear age was one of the most tense periods of history the world had ever seen. We unlocked a weapon capable of obliterating all life on earth, and were now tasked with learning all about it.
In the early days of nuclear technology, we knew little about the impacts and ramifications nuclear weapons could have. Upstate New York ended up being an unwilling testing ground...
Radioactivity in Rensselaer
On April 27th, 1953, Dr. Herbert M. Clark, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY was made aware of something concerning. A lab full of Geiger Counters (a way to detect radioactivity), was detecting higher than normal amounts of radiation, with counters closer to the outdoors wall picking up more.
The more they tested, the more they found. Radiation in the area was 2,630 higher than normal according to tap water samples collected in Albany. Dr. Clark reached out to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) with his findings, but was laughed off as paranoid.
Two Days Earlier...
On April 25th, 1953, the United States detonated a nuclear weapon at their testing site in Nevada, named "Simon". The explosion rose to 300 feet and carried the force of 43 Kilotons (kt). Typically with these tests, the radioactive fallout disperses quickly, but this time, it stayed together, and began travelling east before combining with a storm system in Upstate New York.
The story stayed hidden until being exposed by local congressman Samuel S. Stratton in 1982.
A book, A Good Day Has No Rain was written about the events.
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