ATOMIC PIONEERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY AT THE HANFORD SITE

The legacy of nuclear waste from the Cold War is a global problem emer ging in local contexts. This paper examines this problem from the pers pective of the social identities of those who participated in the firs t ten years of production activities at the Hanford Site (1943-1953) a nd stayed to live in the locality. The issue of nuclear waste, specifi cally the transition to nuclear waste cleanup, is explored by means of life-histories. In particular, the paper explores the decline of the 'culture of secrecy' in the locality in terms of the problems and oppo rtunities it represents in the interpretation of the past and the pres ent. The paper argues that this transition is particularly significant for those who participated in the construction of the Hanford Site. T he analysis presented in the paper suggests that the relationship betw een self and locality is tightly connected to the perceived role of th e Hanford Site as a peacekeeper since World War II. This sense of iden tity and belonging to the locality is undergoing a challenge as the ba sis of the identity is exposed to 'outsider' scrutiny and the local co mmunity reflects upon its history and self-identity. The paper argues this position by identifying the need for qualitative research in envi ronmental sociology which explores the tangible linkages between large -scale social processes and the localities within which such processes are lived out through culture.