Atomic Cows: The Alamogordo Herd at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1945-1965

This thesis examines the place of cows and agriculture in nuclear fallout research at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The 1945 Trinity atomic bomb test exposed a herd of grazing Hereford cattle in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to radioactive fallout. The U.S. Army shipped this herd to Oak Ridge which led to the establishment of the University of Tennessee-Atomic Energy Commission Agricultural Research Laboratory (UT-AEC). The UT-AEC laboratory studied the Alamogordo herd until 1964 to understand the long-term effects of radiation. Close research and media following of the Alamogordo herd directly informed humans’ attempts to dominate nuclear power by controlling nature. Scientists and nationwide media outlets celebrated the Alamogordo herd as proof of the animals’ health and reproductive success after radiation exposure, aligning with broader efforts to ease atomic anxieties. However, as this thesis demonstrates, nature fights back because the Alamogordo herd thwarted these human narratives of control. Ultimately, my thesis engages with scholarship on agricultural, Cold War, and nuclear energy history. My research examines the changes in postwar America, such as rising atomic anxieties, vulnerabilities to industrial agriculture, “Atoms for Peace” movements, and civil defense efforts.