Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang

When the United States performed a series of nuclear tests in Utah and Arizona in the fifties and sixties, the American government was very reluctant to supply data about the consequences of being exposed to radioactive radiation. This affected not only the soldiers involved in the tests but also the civilian population. According to filmmaker and journalist Paul Jacobs, one of the fiercest opponents of nuclear energy in the United States, it was one big cover?up. To prove this, in 1957 he went into the Utah hills with a Geiger counter to measure the percentage of radioactive fallout. Twenty years later he died of lung cancer. Paul jacobs and the nuclear gang is a reconstruction of these events. In the United States the film was considered highly disturbing. One journalist wrote: "Most of my generation may die of cancer. Then we'll know who was telling the truth and who was lying. But by then it will be too late for us 1950's types." (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)