26 : The Oranur Experiment: 1950-1953With the permanent move to Orgonon in 1950, Reich became preoccupied with
the relationship between orgone energy and nuclear energy. He had been concerned since
the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945. In November 1945 he
had published the following remarks: “We shall have to learn to counteract the murderous
form of the atomic energy with the life-furthering function of the orgone energy and thus
render it harmless.”^1
The Korean War, which broke out on June 25, 1950, added to Reich’s sense of
urgency. He had never ceased to be an intensely political animal in the etymological sense of
that word, concerning the citizenry. He believed the accumulator could help in the war
effort, especially in the treatment of wounds and burns. There was also a general fear that
the Korean War could lead to a global nuclear conflict; Reich had hopes that orgone energy
might be helpful as an antidote to nuclear radiation.
These hopes were based on several earlier findings. The most relevant observation
was that accumulator treatment increased the bio-energetic vigor of the blood. Hence, it
might alleviate the blood system disturbances (e.g., anemia, leukemia) associated with radia-
tion sickness. More specifically, Reich had noted that burns due to X-rays could be healed
by orgone treatment. In December 1950, he published a brief report in which he cited his
findings and outlined a research project to investigate whether concentrated orgone energy
could diminish the harmful effects ofnuclear radiation^2 .He named this study Oranur,an
abbreviation for Orgone Energy (OR) versus Nuclear Energy (NR). It stated clearly what
he wanted to prove: First, a degree of immunity against nuclear radiation could be achieved
through prior exposure to concentrated orgone energy. To this end, a group of healthy mice
would be charged with orgone energy for several weeks. Then one half of this group would
be injected with a half-lethal dose of radioactive material, the other half with a lethal dose.
These two groups would be compared against each other and against control groups of
healthy mice untreated by the accumulator that received half-lethal and lethal doses of
radioactive material. The results would help to establish if and to what extent preventive
orgone treatment was useful.
The second proposed experiment involved treatment. A group of healthy mice
would be injected with a half-lethal dose of nuclear radiation prior to any exposure of
orgone energy. Then one half of the injected mice would be treated with orgone energy, the
other injected but untreated halfserving as a control. This experiment was designed to rep-
resent two groups of people some distance from a nuclear explosion, with both groups suf-
344 Myron SharafFury On Earth