ST. GEORGE, Utah — President Donald Trump’s order, sent out on social media about restarting nuclear weapons testing, has reignited memories and fears among southern Utah residents who were exposed to radioactive fallout from past nuclear tests in Nevada.
These residents, known as downwinders, lived through decades of health consequences after being exposed to radiation from above-ground nuclear weapons tests at what was then called the Nevada Test Site, now the Nevada National Security Site.
"I was just … wow when I listened to it," said Claudia Peterson, a St. George downwinder, of the president’s announcement. "I thought we had learned that it caused a lot of damage and heartache and hurt."
Peterson has endured her own health problems and watched family members and friends die from radiation-related illnesses. The death of her 6-year-old child to cancer remains particularly devastating.
"What my family went through was enough. It is enough. I don't want to watch. I don't wanna hold one more child while they die. I don't want to watch one more friend die," Peterson said.
Despite repeatedly sharing her story and even testifying before Congress, Peterson said she was surprised by how little some lawmakers knew about the Nevada Test Site's history.
"I was surprised when I was back in Washington, DC, the young congressmen and senators that didn't know what happened and weren't educated about the Nevada Test Site," Peterson said. "And to think that we haven't learned anything from our past mistakes to start over again is just ludicrous."
Peterson and other radiation victims recently celebrated the return of the government's Radiation Exposure Compensation Act after it had lapsed for a year.
However, the president and government officials now say a return to nuclear testing may be necessary.
According to the Project 2025 report from the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, the Nevada site is the only one in the U.S. still capable of performing nuclear tests.
The foundation has advocated for the resumption of nuclear testing because it says the nation's nuclear arsenal has to be ready to deter potential adversaries.
The last of the 928 nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada site was in September 1992. Like all tests after a 1963 treaty, it was detonated deep underground, rather than sending out fallout.
Officials say underground testing doesn't release radiation into the atmosphere beyond the Nevada site, which is the size of Rhode Island. But at least 10 of the above-ground tests before that sent fallout directly onto southern Utah.
Fred Esplin grew up in Cedar City and is a retired broadcaster and former University of Utah professor. He said, unlike the radio warnings and public announcements in St. George, there was less notice in Iron County.
"Residents got a little brochure at the door saying not to worry just if the dust gets on your car, sweep it off," Esplin said.
The impact on his community was devastating.
"My high school class of 1965 in Cedar City, there were over 25 students that had died of cancer. And that's true of those a little younger and a little older. Lost two cousins way too soon to cancer," Esplin said.
The 78-year-old is dealing with his own cancer that he said won't "kill him anytime soon" and is treatable.
He disagrees with the government's assertion that new testing is necessary, even if conducted underground.
"I question the necessity of resuming the test. If they do proceed, heaven help us," Esplin said.
If there are any increases in radiation coming downwind from Nevada, a radiation detector just outside Desert Hills High School will be how officials to monitor radiation levels.
Continuous radiation monitoring began in St. George after testing ended at the Nevada site. The U.S. Public Health Service determined back then that no airborne radiation escaped beyond the test site from the underground tests.
But Peterson said she's not reassured.
"They told us that before they lied to us before they told us we were safe and they'll lie to us again," Peterson said.
