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OPERATION TEAPOT NEVADA TEST SITE FEB - MAY 1955, PROJECT 33.1 BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS INSIDE PROTECTIVE SHELTERS FOLLOWING A NUCLEAR DETONATION

WHITE, C S; CHIFFELLE, T L; RICHMOND, D R; ET AL; CHIEFFELLE, T L; LOCKYEAR, W H; BOWEN, I G; GOLDIZEN, V C; MERIDETH, H W; KILGORE, D E; LONGWELL, B B; PARKER, J T; SHERPING, F; CRIBB, M E

TEAPOT OPERATION; BLAST EFFECTS; BUILDINGS; CIVIL EFFECTS TESTING; BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; DATA; LABORATORY ANIMALS; PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

REPORT

1955 Dec 31

Unknown

0220

NV0150186

WT1179

CIVIL EFFECTS TEST GROUP

1994 Aug 27

2003 Sep 18

IN TWO SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 277 EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS, INCLUDING 66 DO GS, 52 RABBITS, 52 GUINEA PIGS, 63 RATS, AND 44 MICE, WERE EXPOSED UND ER SELECTED CONDITIONS IN SIX DIFFERENT GENERAL TYPES OF INSTRUMENTED ABOVE- AND BELOW-GROUND SHELTERS TO BLAST PRODUCED BY NUCLEAR EXPLOSI ONS. THE DISTANCE OF THE SEVERAL STRUCTURES FROM GROUND ZERO RANGED FR OM 1050 TO 5500 FT. THE MOST SEVERE ALTERATIONS IN THE PRESSURE ENVIRO NMENT OCCURRING INSIDE THE STRUCTURES FOLLOWED THE DETONATION OF A NUC LEAR DEVICE WITH A YIELD APPROXIMATELY 50 PER CENT GREATER THAN NOMINA L. THE HIGHEST OVERPRESSURE TO WHICH ANIMALS WERE EXPOSED WAS 85.8 PSI , THE RISE TIME OF WHICH WAS 4 MSEC. THE OVERPRESSURE ENDURED FOR ABOU T 570 MSEC. OVERPRESSURES RANGED FROM THIS MAXIMUM DOWNWARD IN 15 OTHE R EXPOSURE SITUATIONS TO A MINIMUM OF 1.3 PSI ENDURING FOR NEARLY 1346 MSEC BUT RISING TO A MAXIMUM IN ABOUT 420 MSEC. THE LATTER PRESSURE O CCURRED INSIDE A REINFORCED CONCRETE BATHROOM SHELTER, WHICH WAS THE O NLY SURVIVING PART OF A HOUSE OTHERWISE TOTALLY DESTROYED, AT 4700 FT WHERE THE OUTSIDE INCIDENT PRESSURE WAS ABOUT 5 PSI. FOLLOWING THE NU CLEAR EXPLOSIONS, ALL ANIMALS WERE RECOVERED, EXAMINED, SACRIFICED, AN D SUBJECTED TO GROSS AND MICROSCOPIC PATHOLOGICAL STUDY. ALL LESIONS W ERE TABULATED AND DESCRIBED. THE RESULTS OF PRESSURE-TIME DATA, DOCUME NTING THE VARIATIONS ON THE PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT, ARE PRESENTED AND AN ALYZED, AND AN EXPLORATORY ATTEMPT IS MADE TO RELATE THE ALTERATIONS I N THE PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT TO THE ASSOCIATED PATHOLOGY OBSERVED. A CRI TICAL REVIEW OF SELECTED MATERIAL FROM THE BLAST AND RELATED LITERATUR E IS PRESENTED. ALL DATA ARE DISCUSSED, AND THE SEVERAL PROBLEMS RELAT ED TO THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF PROTECTIVE SHELTERS ARE NOTED AND BRIEFLY, BUT ANALYTICALLY, ASSESSED. THE MOST OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIO N OF THE FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND THE RELATED STUDY OF THE LITERATURE WAS THE UNEQUIVOCAL DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROVISION OF ADEQUATE PROTECTI VE STRUCTURES CAN INDEED BE AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF SHARPLY REDUCING CAS UALTIES WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DETONATION OF MOD ERN LARGE-SCALE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES.