AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF

The atomic age was enacted by many scientists as a way to realize health and human rights. Human rights were conceived in this context as rights to economic development, science education, and nuclear medicine. The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) acted hand in hand with UN agencies and educators to spread nuclear knowledge and technology as a tool to advance health and human rights for peace and prosperity. UN agencies such as UNESCO, IAEA, and WHO standardized AEC interpretations of radiation exposure. Academics served as the glue to promote nuclear and health physics, research reactors and uranium prospecting. Technical experts traveled the globe to build nuclear infrastructure and institute ideas of radiation exposure that originated from the AEC. Trust in the ability of scientific experts to provide radiation health safety was central to the expansion and acceptance of nuclear technology worldwide. Willard E. Libby of the US Atomic Energy Agency, while admitting uncertainty, believed that under a certain threshold, radiation would not be dangerous. The international field of health physics, dominated by the AEC trained scientists, interpreted radiation dange