MAY 1954

RADIOACTIVE FOOD--"The second thermonuclear experiment at the explosion grounds in the Marshall Islands was said to be 600 times as forceful as the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The immediate brunt fell on a Japanese fishing vessel called The Fortunate Dragon, carrying a harvest of tuna and shark in its open hold. Caught 80 miles from the explosion, it was showered with a white ash of particles which blistered the 23 fishermen's skin and made the fish radioactive. When the ship made port, some of the fish were sold before the government could stop it. Overnight the Japanese people stopped eating fish; housewives shopped with Geiger counters; the price of tuna fell to one third with few takers. The Japanese newspapers looked upon the shower of 'death dust' as the third atomic bombing of Japan."

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