Shot Apple Ii: a Test of the Teapot Series

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United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests Nuclear Test Personnel Review Prepared by the Defense Nuclear Agency as Executive Agency for the Department of Defense

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Between 1945 and 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 present at the tests. Approximately90,000 of these participants were present at the nuclear weapons tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site(NTS),northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. I n 1977, 15 years after the last above - ground weapons test, the Center for Disease Control * noted a possible leukemia cluster among a small group of soldiers present at Shot SMOKY, one test of Operation PLUMBBOB, the series of nuclear weapons tests con - duct ed in 1957. Since that initial rep0r.t 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 part ici - pati on in the nuclear weapons tests. 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 participated in the atmosph eric nuclear weapons tests. DOD organized an effort to : 0Identify DOD personnel who had taken part in the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests 0Determine the extent of the participants ' exposure to ionizing radiation * The Center for Disease Control,an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services(formerly the U.S.

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This report on Shot APPLE 2 is based on the historical record of military and technical documents associated with each of the nuclear weapons test events. public record Of the activities and possible radiation exposure of DOD personnel for ongoing public health research and policy These reports provide a Many of the documents pertaining specifically to DOD involvement during Shot APPLE 2 were found in the Defense Nuclear Agency Technical Library, the National Federal Archives Record Center, the Department of Energy Nevada Operations Office, and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL). Commonly, the surviving historical documentation of activities conducted at Shot APPLE 2 addresses test specifications and technical information rather than the personnel data critical to the study undertaken by the Defense Nuclear Agency. Moreover, instances have arisen i n which available historical documentation has revealed inconsistencies in vital factual data, such as the number of DOD participants i n a certain project at a given shot or their locations and assignments at a given time. These inconsistencies in data usually occur between two or more documents, but occasionally appear within the same document. Efforts have been made to resolve these data inconsistencies wherever possible, or to otherwise bring them to the attention of the An important example of such discrepancies is the documentation dealing with air operations at Operation TEAPOT. Several postshot and post-series documents were analyzed to determine the nature and extent of these air activities, including Parsons' Operational Summary (WT-1158) and Fackler's Technical Air

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view of all activities conducted during the testing, primarily those of ASFWP. Technical Air Operations, however, is a more specific document, chronicling in detail the air operations of DOD personnel. Discrepancies as to numbers of aircraft actually participating in any Single event exist between these two docum e n t ~and other TEAPOT documents. When possible, these discrepancies were resolved through additional research. In those cases for which further research failed to resolve the problem, the Technical Air Operations report, WT-1206, was used because it deals specifically with air operations at TEAPOT and therefore is considered the more reliable document for determining the extent and nature of air operations. The Operational Summary provides an overCONTENTS OF TEAPOT SERIES REPORTS This volume details participation by DOD personnel in Shot APPLE 2, the 13th nuclear detonation of the Operation TEAPOT nuclear weapons testing series. Four other publications address DOD activities during the TEAPOT Series: 0 Series volume: Operation TEAPOT, Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests, 1955 0 Multi-shot volume: Shots WASP through HORNET, the First Five TEAPOT Tests 0 Shot volume: Shot BEE 0 Multi-shot volume: Shots ESS through MET and Shot ZUCCHINI, the Final TEAPOT The volumes addressing the test evpnts of Operation TEAPOT have been designed for use with one another. The Series volume contains information that applies to those dimensions of Operation TEAPOT that transcend specific events, such as historical background, organizational relationships, and radiological safety procedures. I n addition, the TEAPOT Series volume contains a

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bibliography of works consulted in the preparation of all five Operation TEAPOT reports. The single-shot volumes describe DOD participation in Shots BEE and APPLE 2, respectively. These two events have been bound separately because they included significant Exercise Desert Rock maneuvers involving large numbers of DOD personnel. Each multi-shot volume combines shot-specific descriptions for several nuclear events. The shot and multi-shot volumes contain reference lists of only those sources referenced in each text. Descriptions of activities concerning any particular shot in the TEAPOT Series, whether the shot is addressed in a single-shot volume or in a multi-shot volume, should be supplemented by the general organizational and radiological safety information contained i n the TEAPOT Series volume. Another important supplement to the information f o r this report is the Reference Manual: Background Materials for the CONUS Volumes, which summarizes information on radiation physics, radiation health concepts, exposure criteria, and measurement techniques, as well as listing acronyms and a glossary of terms used in the DOD reports addressing test events in the continental

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.1 setting and Characteristics of the APPLE 2 1.2 Department of Defense Participation in Training,and Support Activities at Shot APPLE 2.................. .1 .4Organization of the APPLE 2 Volume ........ 1.3 Exercise Desert Rock Activities at 2 EXERCISE DESERT ROCK V I OPERATIONS AT SHOT APPLE 2 2.1Troop Orientation and Indoctrination Projects at Shot APPLE 2............. 2.2 Troop Tests at Shot APPLE 2........... .2 .3Technical Service Projects at Shot APPLE 2.... 3 JOINT TEST ORGANIZATION OPERATIONS AT SHOT APPLE 2 3.1 Field Command Military Effects Group Projects 3.2 Department of kf ense Participation in Los at Shot APPLE 2. ................. Pro,j ect s at Shot APPLE 2............. Alamos SCientific Laboratory Test Group 3.3Department of Defense Participation in the Universit v of California Radiation Laboratory Test Group Project at Shot APPLE 2........ Effects Test Group Projects at Shot APPLE 2. ... 3.4 k partment of Defense Participation in Civil 3.5 Department of b fp nse Operational Training 3.6 Air Fort? Special Weapons Center Activities Pro,jc ct s at Shot APPLE 2............. at Shot APPLE 2..................

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) 3.6.4 Aerial Surveys of Terrain......... 4RADIATION PROTECTION ACTIVITIES AT SHOT APPLE 2 4.1 Desert Rock Radiation Protect iQ n Activities at Shot APPLE 2. ................. 4.1.1 Radiation Protection Activities for Project41.2, Armored Task Force Exercise, Task Force RAZOR. ........ Project 40.22, Army Volunteer Officer Observers............ .4 .1.3Radiation Protection for Other Desert 4.1.2 Radiation Protection for 4.2Joint Test Organization Radiation Protection Activities at Shot APPLE 2............ 4.2.1Dos ime try Records............. 4.2.2Logistical Data for Radiological Safety LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Location of Shot APPLE 2atthe Nevada Test Site, in Relation to Other Shots in the TEAPOT Series...12 Location of DOD Observers at Shot APPLE 2,(Projects Project 41.2, Armored Task Force Exercise at Demonstrates the Final Phase of t-he Maneuver, Operations of the 1st Combat Aviation Company

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LIST OF TABLES POD Operational Training Projects,Shot APPLE 2... AFSWC Alr Mission SuPport,Shot APPLE 2. ......