91 cast members of the 1956 film "Conqueror" had developed cancer by 1980. Why?

TAKROM

"it was filmed near the site of contemporaneous nuclear testing grounds" (from the article sited below) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049092/trivia Feb 27 11, 2:59 PM

Zbeckabee

Of the 220 persons who worked on The Conqueror on location in Utah in 1955, 91 had contracted cancer as of the early 1980s and 46 died of it, including stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Agnes Moorehead, and director Dick Powell. Experts say under ordinary circumstances only 30 people out of a group of that size should have gotten cancer. The cause? No one can say for sure, but many attribute the cancers to radioactive fallout from U.S. atom bomb tests in nearby Nevada. The whole ghastly story is told in The Hollywood Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved. But let's start at the beginning. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/374/did-john-wayne-die-of-cancer-caused-by-a-radioactive-movie-set Feb 27 11, 4:30 PM

queproblema

91 developed cancer; that's 300% above average and nearly half (well, 41%) of the 220. 46 died from it. I assume the statistics already factor in the percentage of the population that smoked at the time. Maybe not, though. Here's a 30-year-old article in the peer-reviewed, scientific journal called People Magazine. ;) http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20077825,00.html Feb 28 11, 12:00 PM