Operation Teapot

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United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests Nuclear Test Personnel Review Repared by the Defense Nuclear Agency as Executive Agency far the Department of Defense . .

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0 Use of protective equipment - providing anticontamination equipment, including clothing and respirators 0 Monitoring - performlng radiological surveys and controlling access to all contaminated areas 0 Briefing - informing observers and project personnel ofi radiological hazards and the current status of contamination in the test area 0 Decontamination - detecting, removing, and disposing of contaminated material from personnel and equipment. Summaries o f TEAPOT Events The 15 TEAPOT events are summarized in the accompanying table and the ground zeros are shown in the accompanying map. Eight shots--WASP, TESLA, TURK, BEE, ESS, APPLE 1, MET, and APPLE 2--each included more than 500 DOD participants and are described below. Shot WASP, an airdropped nuclear device, was detonated at an altitude of 762 feet above Area 7 of Yucca Flat. It had a yield of one kiloton and occurred at 1200 hours on 18 February 1955. Onsite residual radiation greater than 0.01 R/h was confined to a circular area extending about two kilometers from ground zero. As part of Exercise Desert Rock VI, the armed services conducted troop observer and technical service programs involving more than 900 exercise troops, primarily as observers. Troops were scheduled to view the detonation from trenches 4,500 meters south of ground zero, but these trenches were in the predicted path of fallout. Observers therefore viewed the detonation from News Nob, approximately 14 kilometers south of ground zero. Since the equipment display area was also in the path predicted for the fallout, the postshot tour of the display area was Shot TESLA, a 300-foot tower detonation, was fired at 0530 hours on 1 March 1955 in Area 9. Although the predicted yield was two kilotons, the nuclear device detonated with a yield of seven kilotons. As at Shot WASP, the armed services conducted troop observer, troop test, and technical service programs as part of Exercise Desert Rock VI. These programs involved almost 600 troops, primarily Camp Desert Rock support troops, observing the shot. The closest troops witnessed the detonation from trenches 2,220 meters southwest of ground zero. Because of high radiation levels, the troops could inspect the display area only up to 900 meters from ground zero. Fallout intensities of up to 10 R/h were detected during the initial survey about ROO meters southwest and south of Shot TURK, a 500-fOOt tower detonation, was fired with a yield of 43 kilotons at 0520 hours on 7 March 1955 in Area 2. Fallout of up to 10 R/h was detected about 2,100 meters southeast of ground zero

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duringt he initial survey, which was conducted from 0630 t o 0915 technical service Programs. support troops observing the shot. TURK troop observers 3,200 meters South Of ground zero,but because these trenches were in the expected fallout path,they were not used. Instead, troops occupied the TESLA trenches, located about 5,000 meterss out h east of the TURK ground zero. display area was postponed until the day after the shot,dueto radiation levels in the display area on shot - day. Shot BEE,a 500-foot tower detonation, was fired with a yield of eight kilotons at 0505 hours on 22 March 1955 i n Area 7 of Yucca Flat.Fallout of 10 R/h Was detected around ground zero during the initial survey.Fallout between 0.01 R/h and 0.1 R/h extended east of ground zero. AtBEE, almost 3,000 personnel performed Exercise Desert Rock troop observer, troop test, and technical service the Third Marine Corps Provisional Atomic Exercise Brigade part ici - pate d in the largest single activity of the TEAPOT Series,the Marine Brigade Exercise. The Marine Brigade was comprised of units from the 1st Marine Division and the 3d Marine Air Wing. Air operations units for the exercise included Marine Helicopter Transport Group 36, Marine Air Support Squadron 363. The Marine Brigade Exercise provided the opportunity for training personnel and for testing the tactics and techniques employed if a nuclear detonation were used in support of anair - ground task force. After the participants observed the shot, some from trenches 3,200 meters southwest of ground aero, they conducted a maneuver, which consisted of an airlift and an assault on the objectives. They then toured the equipment display area. A total of 30 H - 19helicopters took part in the airlift, which began about five minutes after the detonation and was completed almost four hours later.After disembarking from the helicopters, the Marines seized ob.j ect ives about 15 kilometers west of ground zero.This part of the maneuver ended at 1500 hours, a t which time the Marines toured the display area,located from 460 to2,560 meters southwest of ground zero. Observers had toured this area earlier. A t 1730 hours, when the maneuver was completed,the Marines checked in at the decontamination station at Yucca Pass. Shot ESS, the only subsurface detonation of the TEAPOT Series, was fired with a yield of one kiloton at 1230 hours on 23 March 1955 i n Area 10 o f Yucca Flat.The ESS event was an operational test of a n atomic demolition munition.Fallout greater than 0.01 R / h occurred mainly southeast of ground zero,but extended up to2,500 meters southwest of ground zero. Because the nuclear device was buried 67 feet underground.tons of earth were blown upward by the detonation,creating a crater 88 meters wide and 96 feet deep. Exercise Desert Rock troop observer,troop test,and technical Exercise Desert Rock included observer,troop test, and Most of t h e 500 Desert Rock troops were Trenches were constructed for The post shot tour of the At Shot BEE,about 299 officers and1,972enlisted men of

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service programs engaged almost 800 troops during Shot ESS. Approxwitnessed the detonation in the open8,230 meters southwest of ground zero. One of the other Exercise Desert Rock projects, Project 40.16, was designed to place and test the ESS demolition munition. F kr son nel of the271st Engineer Combat Battalion excavated the shaft and placed the ESS device. Project 40.9,Passive Defense Training, was conducted to train Navy civilian shipyard and laboratory personnel in establishing safe working conditions close to a nuclear detonation.A total of 168 individuals from Navy units all over the country participated in pre - and post shot training,including monitoring techniques and practice rescue operations. Two other projects, b cation of Atomic Bursts and Ordnance Vehicular Equipment Test,occupied the remainder of the Exercise Desert Rock participants at Shot ESS. Shot APPLE 1, a500 - foot tower detonation, was fired with a yield of 14kilotons at 0455 hours on29 March 1955 i n Area 4. Onsite fallout of up to 10 R/h was detected during the initial survey. Exercise Desert Rock VI troop observer, troop test,and technical service projects engaged more than 600 troops at APPLE 1, primarily Camp Desert Rock support troops observing the shot.Troops witnessed the detonation from trenches 3,200 meters south - southwest of ground zero. After the detonation,they toured the equipment display area, 900 t o 2,250 meters southwest of ground zero. In another Exercise Desert conducted surveys of the ground zero area on the day after the shot, establishing the1and5 R/h lines to within 100 meters of ground Shot MET, R500 - foot tower detonation, was fired with a yield of 22 kilotons at 1115 hours on 15 April1955in Frenchman Flat.Fallout o f up t o 10 R / h was detected around ground zero,extending no farther than 1,500 meters southwest of ground zero. Shot MET, a n acronym for Military Effects Test,involved the largest number of scientific experiments of any shot in the TEAPOT Series.A total of 38 experiments were conducted by DOD personnel of the Military Effects Group. Because of the extensive preparation required for these experiments beforehand, MET was detonated in Frenchman Flat, away from other shots in the TEAPOT Series,to allow project participants to work throughout the Series unhampered by radioactivity from other shots. Desert Rock programs engaged approximately 260 troops, primarily Camp Desert Rock support troops observing the shot.The troops witnessed the detonation from ten kilometers southwest of Shot APPLE 2, a500 - foot tower detonation, was fired with a yield of 29kilotons at0510hours on5 May 1955 i n Area 1 of Yucca Flat. Onsite fallout occurred northwest of ground zero.Readings of 10 R / h were detected northwest of ground zero almost two hours after the detonation. In addition to troop observer,troop test,and technical service programs conducted as part of Exercise Desert Rock VI, which involved about ROO troops,one special troop test involved .im at ely 350 of these troops were observers. The closest troops

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about l , ~ o ~t roo psat Shot APPLE 2. RAZOR, was designed to demonstrate the capability of ap ore reinforced tank battalion to seize an objective immediately after a nuclear detonation.This project was sponsored bythe Army Armored Schoolof Fort Knox, Kentucky. following armored units : The test of an Armored Task Task Force RAZOR was composed ofthe Fort Hood, Texas Company B,510th Armored Infantry Battalion, Provisional Aviation Company, 1st Armored Division. me armored test involved the following activities : A tactical march across open desert terrain from Camp Irwin to the NTS Participation in the APPLE 2event and the armored task force maneuver An overland march back to Camp Irwin 0 A chemical warfare exercise at Camp Irwin. Vehicles employed in the maneuver included 55 M48 tanks, two M41 The four - day overland march from Camp Irwin began 18 April 1955 and ended 21 April 1955. From 21April to4 May, the taskforce rehearsed the maneuver inthe forward area of the NTS. Three times during this period,the taskforce camped i n Yucce Flat in preparation for the shot,butin each instance,the shot was postponed due to poor weather. On 4 May 1955, the day before detonation,the taskforce vehicles were positioned northbound, from three to five kilometers south of ground zero. At the time of the shot,all tank turrets were rotated to the rear, all sight apertures were sealed with opaque tape,and all hatches were

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Iclosed and secured. All personnel took protective measures appropriate to their distance from the shot. The detonation caused no significant damage to the task force, although most of the engine and fan access panels were dislodged from the M59 personnel carriers. They were repositioned for the maneuver, which began upon clearance by the Test Director. About eight minutes after the shot, all units were mobilized and moving toward ground zero, maintaining radio contact with the Task Force Commander. About 20 monitors from the 50th Chemical Service Platoon were provided to check radiation levels during the assault. When the tanks closest to ground zero obtained an inside reading of 1 R/h, about 890 meters from ground zero, the Task Force Commander ordered the formation to execute a partial left turn away from ground zero. Two M59s in the rear of the formation temporarily lost contact and moved to within 820 meters of ground zero before they recovered and joined the rest of the task force a few minutes later. After passing through a defile at Syncline Ridge, the task force attained its objective, about 6.4 kilometers from the preshot position, about 90 minutes after detonation. To bring realism to the maneuver, tank guns and coaxial machine-guns fired blanks in the final stages of the assault. After the maneuver, task force members were brushed with brooms to remove dust and debris, even though monitoring of both personnel and vehicles showed no significant contamination. Radiation Exposures at TEAPOT As of November 1981, the military services had identified 7,930 participants by name for Operation TEAPOT. Film badge data are available for 4,504 of these participants, as shown in the "Summarv of Dosimetry for Operation TEAPOT" table. It is estimated that the total number of participants in Operation TEAPOT was approximately 11,000 personnel. Using this estimate, 72 percent have been identified by name and film badge data has been located for 41 percent. The table also includes information, listed by service or affiliation, on the number of personnel in various dose ranges, the number of personnel with zero gamma exposure. the average gamma exposure and the maximum Film badge data are generally unavailable for Desert Rock VI participants. Therefore, most Army participants identified by name and film badge in the table were probablv associated with JTO activites. However, some aggregate exDosure data for DesertRock VI participants is.available in the Final Report of Operations, Desert Rock VI. It states that, for Desert Rock 0 97 individuals received over 3.0 but less than 6.0 roentgens of exposure 0 15 individuals received between 6.0 and 20.0 roentgens of 0 Two individuals received over 20.0 roentgens of exposure.

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NEVADA TEST SITE SHOWING LOCATIONS OF SHOT GROUND ZEROS IN TEAPOT SERIES

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Between 1945and 1962, the United States Government, through the Manhattan Engineer District and its successor agency,the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC),conducted 235 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests at sites in the southwestern U.S. and in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In all,an estimated 220,000 Department of Defense (DOD) participants,both military and civilian, were present at the tests. Approximately 90,000 o f these participants were present at the nuclear weapons tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS),* northwest of Las Vegas, I n 1977, 15 years after the last above-ground nuclear weapons test, the Center for Disease Control + noted a possible leukemia cluster among a small group of soldiers present at Shot SMOKY, one weapons related test of Operation PLUMBBOB, the series of nuclear weapons tests conducted in 1957. Since that initial report by the Center for Disease Control,the Veterans Administration has received a number of claims for medical benefits from former military personnel who believe their health may have been affected by their participation in the weapons In late1977,the DOD began a study that provided data to both the Center for Disease Control and the Veterans Admin is tra - tion on possible exposures to ionizing radiation among its military and civilian personnel who p nrt ici pate d in the *The Nevada Proving Ground was renamed the Nevada Test Site during the TEAPOT Series. +The Center for Disease Control is part of the U.S. Department of

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Identify DOD personnel who had taken part in the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests . Determine the extent of the participants' exposure to ionizing radiation Provide public disc-losure of information concerning participation by DOD personnel in the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. This report on Operation TEAPOT is based on the historical and technical documents associated with each of the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted during the Series. The reports provide a public record of the activities and possible radiation exposure for use in ongoing public health research and policy ! METHODS AND SOURCES USED TO PREPARE THIS VOLUME The Defense Nuclear Agency compiled information for this volume by examining aVailRble documents that record the military operations and scientific activities performed during Operation TEAPOT, the series of nuclear weapons tests conducted in 1955. These records, most of which were developed by individuals and organizations participating in the TEAPOT …