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The Work of Invisibility: Radiation Hazards and Occupational Health in South African Uranium Production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2012

Gabrielle Hecht
Affiliation:
University of Michigan

Abstract

This article explores the technopolitical mechanisms by which radiation hazards in South African uranium production were rendered invisible. The occupational health effects of underground uranium mining were deeply contested for decades, all over the world. From the 1950s to the 1990s, the volatile nature of labor relations under apartheid shaped how the South African mining industry responded to the presence of radon gas. With occasional help from state scientists, the industry muffled the political menace of radon gas by making its physical presence difficult to see. Sometimes this invisibility resulted from deliberate decisions, sometimes from structural suppression, sometimes from the tangle of both. This article argues that maintaining radon's invisibility took work.

Type
Labor and Global Commodities
Copyright
Copyright © International Labor and Working-Class History, Inc. 2012

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References

NOTES

I thank Keith Breckenridge, Paul Edwards, Mae Ngai, Molly Nolan, and Jay Slagle for their comments on earlier drafts. This article is drawn from Gabrielle Hecht, Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade (2012).

1. See for example Abraham, Itty, The Making of the Indian Atomic Bomb: Science, Secrecy and the Postcolonial State (1998)Google Scholar; Hecht, Gabrielle, The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II (new edition 2009).Google Scholar

2. Hecht, Gabrielle, “Africa and the Nuclear World: Labor, Occupational Health, and the Transnational Production of Uranium,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 51 (2009):896926.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3. See for example Packard, Randall M., White Plague, Black Labor: Tuberculosis and the Political Economy of Health and Disease in South Africa (1989)Google Scholar; McCulloch, Jock, Asbestos Blues Asbestos Blues: Labour, Capital, Physicians & the State in South Africa (2002).Google ScholarMcCulloch, Jock, “Counting the Cost: Gold Mining and Occupational Disease in Contemporary South Africa,” African Affairs 108:561602Google Scholar.

4. For other instances of historical ontologies, see Hacking, Ian, Historical Ontology (2002)Google Scholar; Sellers, Christopher, “The Artificial Nature of Fluoridated Water: Between Nations, Knowledge, and Material Flows,” in Landscapes of Exposure: Knowledge and Illness in Modern Environments, Osiris 19, ed. Mitman, Gregg, Murphy, Michelle, and Sellers, Christophereds.,(2004):182200Google Scholar; Sellers, Christopher, Hazards of the Job: From Industrial Disease to Environmental Health Science (University of North Carolina Press, 1997).Google Scholar

5. For an introduction to one strand of STS scholarship on the distribution of ontology and agency into things, see Latour, Bruno, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory (2005).Google Scholar

6. Breckenridge, K., “Verwoerd's Bureau of Proof: Total Information in the Making of Apartheid,” History Workshop Journal, 29 (2005): 83108CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Edwards, Paul N. and Hecht, Gabrielle, “History and the Technopolitics of Identity: The Case of Apartheid South Africa,” Journal of Southern African Studies 36 (September 2010):619639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7. See Borstelmann, T., Apartheid's Reluctant Uncle: The United States and Southern Africa in the Early Cold War (New York, 1993)Google Scholar; Gowing, M., Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945–1952 (London, 1974)Google Scholar; Helmreich, J.E., Gathering Rare Ores: The Diplomacy of Uranium Acquisition, 1943–1954 (Princeton, 1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

8. Elana Janson, “The Development of the Uranium and Nuclear Industry in South Africa, 1945–1970: A Historical Study,” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Stellenbosch, 1995), 84–85.

9. RSJ du Toit, “Experience in the control of radiation at a small thorium mine,” in International Atomic Energy Agency, International Labour Organisation, and World Health Organization. Radiological health and safety in mining and milling of nuclear materials: proceedings (IAEA, 1964), quotes on 205 passim.

10. S. R. Rabson, “Radon and Radioactivity in Mines: Summary,” November 30, 1962; S. R. Rabson, “Survey of Radon and Radon Daughters: Vogelstruisbult G.M. Co. Ltd.,” September 30, 1962; P. Buckley-Jones, “Survey of Radon and Radon Daughters: Luipaardsvlei Gold Mining Co. Ltd.,” November 30, 1962. Private papers of Shaun Guy (henceforth SG papers).

11. W. S. Rapson, Research Advisor to Mr. Gibbs, Government Mining Engineer, October 8, 1964. SG papers.

12. Rabson's project shifted to the jurisdiction of the Medical Panel at that point. Circular No. 19/63, “Record of Meeting of the Radioactivity Panel held on Wednesday, 19th December 1963 in the Chamber of Mines Building,” December 30, 1963. SG papers.

13. “A Precis of 'Memorandum Regarding Health Hazards Relating to the Operation of Uranium Leach Plants to be Established on Certain of the Witwatersrand Gold Mines' (by Professor L. Taverner),” September 11, 1951. Chamber of Mines archives (henceforth CoM archives).

14. E. T. Pinkney, “Some Comments on Professor Taverner's Memorandum Relating to Health Hazards,” September 11, 1951; Transvaal Chamber of Mines, “Report of Meeting held in the Office of the Government Mining Engineer on Wednesday, 3rd October, 1951, at 2:30 pm,” October 8, 1951; R. R. Porter, “Review of the Toxicology of Uranium as Applied to Rand Ores,” October 3, 1951. CoM archives.

15. Ibid.

16. Austin, Brian, Schonland: Scientist and Soldier (2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dubow, Saul, A Commonwealth of Knowledge: Science, Sensibility, and White South Africa 1820–2000 (2002).Google Scholar

17. Transvaal Chamber of Mines, “Report of Meeting held in the Office of the Government Mining Engineer on Wednesday, 3rd October, 1951, at 2:30 pm,” October 8, 1951. CoM archives.

18. L. S.Williams, “Report on a Study of Health Hazards in the Production and Handling of Uranium Compounds in England and America,” April 30, 1952. CoM archives.

19. GMEU 9/11/1, “Minutes of the First Meeting of the Health Committee of the Atomic Energy Board, held in the Office of the Government Mining Engineer on Tuesday, the 6th July, 1954, at 10 a.m.” NASA: GES 2175 ref 179/133.

20. Hartebeestfontein Gold Mine, “Safety in the Uranium Plant,” n.d. but ca. 1956–57. CoM archives.

21. “Safety Practices in Uranium Plants: Code of Practice,” 20 May 1955. CoM archives.

22. Ibid.

23. The Rand Mutual Assurance Company, Memorandum to the General Manager, Chamber of Mines of South Africa, “Medical Examination of Employees in the Uranium Industry,” August 10, 1972. CoM archives.

24. “No Radio-Activity Danger in Uranium Mines—Viljoen,” extract from Rand Daily Mail, October 9, 1952. CoM archives.

25. McCulloch, “Counting the Cost.”

26. Manager, Luipaards Vlei Estate and Gold Mining Company to General Manager, Transvaal and OFS Chamber of Mines, January 14, 1957. CoM archives.

27. Reports are far too numerous to cite individually—collected throughout uranium plant records for 1956 and 1957 in CoM archives.

28. Director, DVL to Manager, Calcined Products, March 14, 1957. CoM archives.

29. Circular no. 19/63, “Record of Meeting of the Radioactivity Panel held on Wednesday, 19th December 1963, in the Chamber of Mines Building,” December 30, 1963. SG papers.

30. S. S. Nosworthy to H. Clark, Daggafontein Mines, 16 January 1957. CoM archives.

31. NUFCOR, “Health and Safety: Respirators or Dust Masks,” WLL/MK, March 4, 1971. NUFCOR archives.

32. Interview with Edwin Pheeha, April 29, 2004, Westonaria, South Africa.

33. GMEU 9/11/1, “Minutes of the First Meeting of the Health Committee of the Atomic Energy Board, held in the Office of the Government Mining Engineer on Tuesday, the 6th July, 1954, at 10 a.m.” NASA: GES 2175 ref 179/133.

34. Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines, “Explanatory Memorandum: Safety Practices in Uranium Plants: Code of Practice,” June 6, 1955.

35. Breckenridge, “Verwoerd's Bureau.” This argument is extended in Edwards and Hecht, “History and the Technopolitics of Identity.”

36. McCulloch, “Counting the Cost.”

37. The Rand Mutual Assurance Company, Memorandum to the General Manager, Chamber of Mines of South Africa, “Medical Examination of Employees in the Uranium Industry,” August 10, 1972; Statistician, Memorandum to G. H. Grange Esq., Technical Adviser, Sept. 20, 1972. CoM archives.

38. Transvaal & Orange Free State Chamber of Mines, Employees in Uranium Plants, Medical Record (blank form, no date), CoM archives.

39. R. A. Mathews, Medical Advisor, Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines, Social Services Department, A/18/4, “Memorandum for the General Manager,” August 6, 1959. CoM archives.

40. Confidential interview, Johannesburg metropolitan area, South Africa.

41. The Rand Mutual Assurance Company, Memorandum to the General Manager, Chamber of Mines of South Africa, “Medical examination of Employees in the Uranium Industry,” August 10, 1972. CoM archives.

42. Statistician, Memorandum to G. H. Grange Esq., Technical Adviser, Sept 20, 1972. CoM archives.

43. C. C. Freed, Medical Superintendent, Memorandum to Manager, The Rand Mutual Assurance Company Ltd., “Uranium Examinations,” 6 November 1972. CoM archives.

44. LB/35/6/10, J. O. Tattersall to J. W. L. de Villiers, July 18, 1980, re: Chamber of Mines Code of Practice on Safety. SG papers.

45. Telephone interview with Phil Metcalf (then working at the IAEA in Vienna), June 17, 2004.

46. A. J. A. Roux to W. P. Viljoen, May 16, 1979, internal ref. LB/35/6/10. SG papers

47. Hecht, Gabrielle, Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade (2012).Google Scholar

48. A. J. A. Roux to W. P. Viljoen, May 16, 1979, internal ref. LB/35/6/10. SG papers.

49. S. Guy, “A review of files at the Government Mining Engineer concerning radiation in mines and works,” August 26, 1986, 3. SG papers.

50. Ibid., 7.

51. Interview with Shaun Guy, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 12, 2004.

52. Ibid.

53. J. D. Grieg, R. Rolle, V. B. Dods, B. G. Hampson and J. P. du Plessis, “Report on a survey of Radon and Radon-daughter concentrations in Twenty-Five Gold Mines,” Research Report No. 36/70, October 1970. Goldfields archives.

54. J. K. Basson et al. “Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters in South African Gold/Uranium Mines,” Atomic Energy Board: PEL 209. Pelindaba, March 1971.

55. Ibid., 12.

56. Guy interview.

57. “Results of Radon Daughter Sampling in Bird Reef,” West Rand Consolidated Mines, Ltd., Mine Office, West Rand, December 13, 1973. SG papers.

58. S. Guy, “Memorandum: Meeting at West Rand Consolidated with the Mine Manager, February 24, 1986.” LB/35/6/10/8. SG papers.

59. AEC Licensing Branch, “Report of the Underground Survey for Radon Daughters at West Rand Consolidated Mine, March 5, 1986,” p. 5. May 23, 1986, LB/35/1/13; LB/35/6/10/8. SG papers. By this point, the AEB had changed its name to the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa, or AEC.

60. Guy interview.

61. JW/MT/TH1, “Special Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Nuclear Licenses,” March 16, 1990; “Meeting with Representatives of the Government Mining Engineer and the Council for Nuclear Safety,” December 20, 1990; SG/ak, “Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 August 1990 at the Council for Nuclear Safety's Offices in Verwoerdburgstad”; TRN Main to PJ Hugo, May 29, 1991, re: Nuclear Energy Act, 1982: Application to Mines. CoM-SG archives.

62. McCulloch, “Counting the Cost.”

63. JW/MT/TH1, “Special Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Nuclear Licenses,” March 16, 1990; “Meeting with Representatives of the Government Mining Engineer and the Council for Nuclear Safety,” December 20, 1990. CoM-SG archives.

64. A few examples among many include John Edwards to Peter Hunter, “Areas of Concern with respect to the CNS,” November 8, 1993, Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company; Z. B. Swanepoel to Penuell Maduna, “Matters Concerning the CNS,” August 4, 1998. CoM-SG archives.

65. Technical Committee Meeting on Impact of the New ICRP Occupational Dose Limit on the Operation of Underground Mines, June 3–7, 1991, Final Draft produced after the TC, June 7, 1991. Chamber of Mines-Environmental Section archives (henceforth CoM-ES archives).

66. R. M. Fry, “Report of Advisory Group Meeting on the Implementation of the 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in the Specific Area of the Operation of Underground Mines,” J1-AG-797, December 11, 1992. CoM-ES archives.

67. D. Wymer, “Report on Two Meetings at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, 7–18 December 1992,” December 31, 1992. Emphasis added. CoM-ES archives.

68. W. E. Stumpf to T. R. N. Main, IAEA Meeting in Vienna on the Basic Safety Standard for Radiological Protection, November 6, 1992. CoM-ES archives.

69. D. Wymer, “Report on Two Meetings at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, December 7–18, 1992,” December 31, 1992; D. Wymer, “Note for the Record: Joint Secretariat for the Basic Safety Standards (Ionizing Radiation): Working Group on Dose Limitation (Occupational Exposure) in Specific Occupations (Mines, Health Personnel, etc.): International Labour Office, Geneva, March 29 to April 1, 1993. CoM-ES archives.

70. “Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Safety and Health,” 63–65.

71. Ibid., 104.

72. Thomas Auf der Heyde, “South African Nuclear Policy Since 1993: Too Hot to Handle?” Paper presented at the National Nuclear Technology Conference, September 6–9, 1998, South Africa. CoM-ES archives.

73. “Draft: South African Energy Policy: Discussion Document: Comment,” October 2, 1995, pp. 1, 11. CoM-ES archives.

74. A. H. Munro to M. Golding, March 2, 1995. CoM-ES archives. For the 1990 ICRP recommendations, see Annals of the ICRP, Vol. 21 (1–3), especially 25–32.

75. D. G. Wymer, “Note for the record: Meeting between the Chamber and Marcel Golding, Cape Town, June 7, 1995,” 14/6/95. CoM-ES archives.

76. Metcalf interview; Interview with Derek Elbrecht and colleagues, May 15, 2004.

77. Elbrecht interivew.

78. AngloGold Ashanti Annual Report 2007—Report to Society. Accessed August 16, 2010 on http://www.anglogold.co.za/subwebs/informationforinvestors/reports07/reporttosociety07/radiation-SA.htm.

79. Fig, David, “In the Dark: Seeking Information about South Africa's Nuclear Energy Programme,” in Paper Wars: Access to Information in South Africa, ed. Allen, Kate. (2009):5687.Google Scholar Fig also discusses the struggle of Pelindaba workers to obtain radiation exposure information.

80. McCulloch, “Counting the Cost.”