Distribution and intensity of fallout from the underground shot. Project 2. 5. 2 (of) Operation TEAPOT

Technical Report · Fri Mar 14 04:00:00 EST 1958

OSTI ID:6355847

Stetson, R L; Shirasawa, T H; Sandomire, M M; Baum, S; Chan, H K; Werner, L B

One phase of the over-all fallout studies on the underground detonation during Operation TEAPOT was to make total fallout collections defining the magnitude and extent of the entire fallout event in terms of quantity of material dispersed and deposited. Such information was required to supplement and extend data from previous surface and subsurface tests, both nuclear and high explosive, and to test and improve prediction methods developed from these data. Material and radioactive fallout was documented by sampling the fallout at an array of ground stations deployed to include the major portion of the residual field. Limited time-sampling of fallout was performed, and duplicate total fallout-collection stations were employed to check validity of the total-fallout-collection techniques. Results have been converted to a unit-area basis and recorded according to position in the master-station locator plan extablished for all Military Effects Group fallout studies. It is estimated that 9.16 x 10/sup 6/ pounds of soil, which comprises 3.6% of the total crater material, and 2.9 x 10/sup 22/ fissions, which comprises 17% of the fission yield for the device, were deposited in the sampled area. Adequate data were obtained to show the variation in mass and radioactivity with distance in all directions from surface zero. Graphs of different types depicting these variations are presented. Field gamma-flux values obtained by the project are included for comparison. Estimates of variance were determined separately for the mass and gamma activity data. A common value of +-30% obtained for the standard deviations was attributed to the sampling procedure, which was identical for the two sets of data.

• Research Organization: Naval Radiological Defense Lab., San Francisco, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6355847
• Report Number(s): WT-1154
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DISTRIBUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EXPLOSIONS
FALLOUT
FORECASTING
MASS TRANSFER
NEVADA TEST SITE
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
SAMPLING
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
TEAPOT PROJECT
UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS