In January 1951 a geiger counter at Kodak's headquarters in New York registered readings 25 times higher than normal during a snowstorm. It turned out that on the 27th of January the first nuclear test occurred at the Nevada Proving Grounds location.
In 1952, Kodak notified the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) about its findings. The commission dismissed Kodak's concerns, even allowing Kodak to give a press release about radioactive snow. Kodak was told that the radiation in the snow wasn't harmful to humans or animals, which it relayed in the press release.
Kodak would eventually go on to threaten to sue the United States government for the nuclear tests due to the damage it was causing to their X-ray film. The U.S. government and Kodak eventually worked out a deal where the AEC would notify Kodak of future tests so precautions could be made to protect the film. In return, Kodak was to keep silent about the nuclear testing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 13 2019, @06:04PM (1 child)
goosh what luck that humans aren't made from x-ray film material. we can continue to pursue nuclear reactors
in all shapes and sizes since modern cameras don't need film anymore!
opening them safe nuclear cans up for refueling will only harm some x-ray sensitive worms. ..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday May 14 2019, @02:58AM
I guess it's "luck" that reactors weren't responsible for x-ray film fogging in the first place.