Gallery: Eerie Photos Trace the Strange History of Nukes
Michael Light01100 SUNS: SEQUOIA 5.2 Kilotons/Enewetak Atoll/1958
Nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific in 1946. Part of *100 SUNS*, a series of declassified photographs taken by the US military between July 1945 and November 1962.
Peter G. Gordon02PeterG-Gordon-Nadean
Nadean Johnson holds a Geiger counter while pointing to a poster at an Atomic Survival Exhibit at the Sportsmen’s Show on March 19, 1952.
Federal Newsphoto03Federal-Newsphoto-Lieutenant
Lieutenant-Colonel W. Arthur Croteau stands before a model of an atom blast on a map of Ottawa on April 26, 1952.
Unknown, US Airforce04Unknown-1
In this image, taken on April 8, 1951, observers wearing safety goggles observe the detonation of the “Dog” atomic explosion from the patio of the Officer’s Beach Club at Enewetak Atoll.
Nancy Burson05CCP-91007001-m
A composite portrait of five world leaders, according to the number of warheads each country had in 1982. President Ronald Reagan makes up 55% of the image and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev 45%. French President François Mitterrand, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping make up 1% each.
US Military06Unknown-2
This photograph from 1957 was taken during Operation Priscilla in Nevada at the exact moment the camera crews felt the test’s shockwaves.
Carole Gallagher07Carole-Gallagher-Ken-Case
In 1954, deputy sheriff Ken Case began driving herds of cattle over the Nevada Test Site so scientists could study the effects of radiation on the animals. When Carole Gallagher photographed him in 1984, he and his wife were suffering from cancer. He died in 1985.
Harold Whyte08Whyte-Canadas-First-Underground
Canada's first underground H-bomb shelter opens for viewing on August 3, 1955.
Michael Light09100 SUNS: BAKER 21 Kilotons/Bikini Atoll/1946
Nuclear test at Enewetak Atoll in 1958. Part of *100 SUNS*, a series of declassified photographs taken by the US military between July 1945 and November 1962.
David McMillan10David-McMillan-View-of-Forest
The landscape surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant was abandoned after a catastrophic meltdown in 1986. This photograph offers a view into the forest from what was once a dental hospital in Pripyat.
Robert Del Tredici11Robert-Del-Tredici-Becquerel-Reindeer
Radioactive reindeer carcasses fill a freezer in Swedish Lapland after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, December 3, 1986.
Frank Grant12Frank-Grant-Ban-the-Bomb
Canadian citizens march through the streets of Toronto during a Ban the Bomb protest on October 4, 1961.
Edward Burtynsky13Edward-Burtynsky-Uranium-Tailings
"Uranium Tailings #12, Elliott Lake, Ontario" (1995). The Stanrock uranium mining operation is now a radioactive wasteland, holding some 130 million tons of uranium tailings.
