Between Profession and Politics 75
tremendous amount of factual data and figures, which were forbidden to
record in writing. 46
One of the most important achievements of the plant’s doctors was the establishment of uninterrupted operation of medical stations that in fact, performed the functions of “experimental laboratories” for the collection and
accumulation of necessary information. V.N. Doshchenko, the head of the
health center at the chemical-metallurgical factory, recalled:
…we conducted a thorough medical examination of all personnel every
2 months, although according to the instructions of the Ministry of
Health it was to be done once a year. As the most accurate indicator of
the harmful effect of radiation on the body, first of all, the blood was
looked at, for which all the medical stations were equipped with such
hematological laboratories, which were available only in regional hospitals. A detailed blood test was performed on each employee. To give an
idea of the load that fell on doctors and nurses of medical stations, it is
enough to name one figure: in the first five years alone, they conducted
more than 100,000 (!) medical examinations. If it hadn’t been for the
medical stations, the number of illnesses and deaths would have been
much higher. 47
Due to the secrecy regulations, the storage and systematization of the
material obtained through the medical inspections was difficult. Medical
staff and doctors had to invent “tricks and ciphers:” the patient’s medical
book number in the records meant his accumulated radiation dose, radiation sickness was designated in the documents as “astheno-vegetative syndrome,” and the names of nuclides were indicated by numbers. “All this,”
explained Gusʹkova, “undoubtedly made it difficult to read documents,
especially in subsequent years.” 48
Professional Ethos, Career, and Conflictual
Spaces of Communication
The group of radiological medical experts of the plant No. 817 represented
clinicians who performed the functions of medical practitioners and researchers at the same time. The duality of professional duties determined the main
“areas” of conflict that arose in interaction with the leadership of the enterprise and in communication with scientists-experimentalists of central medical, biological, and radiological institutions.
At the initial stage of the nuclear project, plant workers were removed from
hazardous workshops only after clinical signs of disease appeared. Medics
were only able to withdraw people based on the accumulated dose of radiation after fatalities had occurred. Gusʹkova recalled that the doctors of the
Second Therapy have literally “won” this right. 49 Thus, Efrosinʹia Emanova,
tremendous amount of factual data and figures, which were forbidden to
record in writing. 46
One of the most important achievements of the plant’s doctors was the establishment of uninterrupted operation of medical stations that in fact, performed the functions of “experimental laboratories” for the collection and
accumulation of necessary information. V.N. Doshchenko, the head of the
health center at the chemical-metallurgical factory, recalled:
…we conducted a thorough medical examination of all personnel every
2 months, although according to the instructions of the Ministry of
Health it was to be done once a year. As the most accurate indicator of
the harmful effect of radiation on the body, first of all, the blood was
looked at, for which all the medical stations were equipped with such
hematological laboratories, which were available only in regional hospitals. A detailed blood test was performed on each employee. To give an
idea of the load that fell on doctors and nurses of medical stations, it is
enough to name one figure: in the first five years alone, they conducted
more than 100,000 (!) medical examinations. If it hadn’t been for the
medical stations, the number of illnesses and deaths would have been
much higher. 47
Due to the secrecy regulations, the storage and systematization of the
material obtained through the medical inspections was difficult. Medical
staff and doctors had to invent “tricks and ciphers:” the patient’s medical
book number in the records meant his accumulated radiation dose, radiation sickness was designated in the documents as “astheno-vegetative syndrome,” and the names of nuclides were indicated by numbers. “All this,”
explained Gusʹkova, “undoubtedly made it difficult to read documents,
especially in subsequent years.” 48
Professional Ethos, Career, and Conflictual
Spaces of Communication
The group of radiological medical experts of the plant No. 817 represented
clinicians who performed the functions of medical practitioners and researchers at the same time. The duality of professional duties determined the main
“areas” of conflict that arose in interaction with the leadership of the enterprise and in communication with scientists-experimentalists of central medical, biological, and radiological institutions.
At the initial stage of the nuclear project, plant workers were removed from
hazardous workshops only after clinical signs of disease appeared. Medics
were only able to withdraw people based on the accumulated dose of radiation after fatalities had occurred. Gusʹkova recalled that the doctors of the
Second Therapy have literally “won” this right. 49 Thus, Efrosinʹia Emanova,