Sandstone Report-43 TG 7.6 Operations - Operation Report Phases a, B, C, D, E

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and Captain James Russell, USN, both of Wtary ApplicationsDivision, AEC, called Colonel James P. Cooney, EC, USA of the Office of the Surgeon Ceneralfor a conferenceat the office of the AEC, and informed him that certain atanic tests would be conducted in the future at SOM site to be chosen in the Pacific aroa. Thoystatedthathis name had logical safety operations. Colonel Cooney was asked if he would be willing to assume this responsibility,and he stated he would be willing to help in any way possible. In the latter part of SeptemberColonel Cooney was ordered to report to Lt. General John E. UuU for a personal interviewat jihichtime it was confirmed that Colonel Cooney was will&~& to assume responsibility for radiologicalsafety operations,and that the Surgeon Cerieralhad concurred in his release. Accordingly,Lt. General Hull stated that orders would be issued a the appointstentofficial. Washington, D. C., dated L8 October 1947 announced that Colonel Cooney would be the RadiologicalSafety Officer. He was charged with the

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within JTF-7 for tho opcratiolnldetection and determirrcltionof Intensitiesand types of radioactivity,and the protectionof personnel from its luzards. In October 1947 Colonel Cooncy met with Captnin PriuJ<I, Project at the Fentigon in Mshington. At this meeting Colonel Cooney outlined the proposed plxi for the atanic tests and announced that a RadiologicalStiety Group would be formcd. On 18 October 1947 General Orders Number 3, Headquarters,Joint the Joint Radiologicalsafety Group, Task Group 7.6 For a period of about three weeks during the month of October 1947 Colonel Cooney acccnlpaniedLt. General Hull and his party on a survey of arw in the Pacific. This was in connectionwith the the group to consider radiologicalsafety aspects* In November 1947 the Joint Proof test Caaaittee submitted the "green paper" to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A certxin portion of this paper, dealing with fundamentalradiologicalsafety rules to be employed in SANDSTONE,was drafted by the Staff of the Radiological Safety Group, This group originallyconsisted of Colonel Cooncy, and Lt. CcrxnanderCampbell, USN of AFSW. The primary rule included in this pper wzasthat Cor.mnder, JTF-7 would be responsiblefor

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radiologicalsafety of all per~onn6l in the Task Force, both militati ard civilian. Llr. David E. Uicnthal, Chairmn of the AEC, In replying to the papor request& that in certain instances the sciontFfic Director be authorized to ostabltih radioloi;fcalsafety requirements for AEC porsonnel in connectionwith curtain criticaltests. The RadSafa staff Croup then prepmmi a dissent which wns forwnrded by Lieut. General flulland appmvcd by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Campball and now including Ccmander Thoms R. Fonick, USN of the AR.%', prepared the ~diolo~ical safety plan which was to becano Annex "J" of Considerablediscussioncentered around paragraph 1 of Annex NJ" which states tlut radiologicalsafety of all pt~~o1mo1 is a cmcxmi responsibility. This is comidcr& to bo I fin&umntal rule in rndiolo!:icals.\fetywork and pkcos the monitor in an advisory capcity to the leader of aq,sIW%~ working in a radioactivearea. However, there were certain rules written into the plan strengthenedthe position of the monitor leader a~ right to review the monitor's After comiderablc dclibcmtion .mA discussion it was dcci&d that the duties of Colonel Cooncy as :I:xmber of the Joint T.uk Force Staff would be of such mgitude tl;ztit wcuLi not be foasiblc)for bin

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The cstablishuentof the Joint RadiologicalSafetyGrcmpas a OperationCROSSROADSto meet the safety'problem. It was not the intentthat the Cmer of Task Group7.6 shouldformulatepolicy ,!,:_5 but ratherthat he shouldexercisecontrolof a functionalpoup personnel. ?3ycarry~ out the safetypolicywithina separate activityit nzi felt ikit an unhamperedcoordinationof effortcould be accomplishedwithoutneedlesslyirpedingthe overall operation,

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were needed to accomplishthe planning stage of the operation,and to form a nucleus for the RadiologicalSafety Group. In addition, eight other special& qualified officerswere requestedby name to report by 15 January 1946. Procurementof these officerswas given hkhest priority because of the amount of Previous experience each On 1Gctober 1947 Colonel Cooney arxACaptain Xnant began consideringthe problem of obtaining personnel for the Radiolo@al Safety Group. It was apparent that a mall group of experienced personnel would be needed to conduct the planning, technical,and operationalfunctions. These experiencedpersonnelwould have to be drawn from other importantasswents and in General would cczne from the AEWP and UC.. It was decided that this staff group should be as smll as possible in order not to interfereunnecessarilywith the majority of the group should consist of graduates of the radic+ logicalsafetyschools at Treasure Islandsnd Fdgewocd Arsenal. The non-staff or monitorpersonnelwould be picked from those having the best records at the radiologicalsafety schools0 It was desirable that all branches of the services have representativesin the Padiological Safety Group, thereby each service should benefit by the experienceof the operation, On 17 October 1947 a memorandumwas sent to the J-l Section, JTP-7 and constitutedthe basic request for personneL Six officers and one civilianwere requested imediately for the duration of the

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had tud in this work. LIonitorsfor the operation were chosen frm school gradutes. In general they were picked on the basis of their services furnishirgthese rr.onitorsis as follows: princi&s definitelyselected, 3 or 4 alternates fYaa each service were alerted at the same time. Enlisted requirementswere four EN's, well qual.Qied in electronic instrumentrepair; five photographerlsz&es, with nuch experience in film development for work in photographicdosimetry; six yeomen ami two storekeepers. Also at this tiue amaqenents were negotiatedfor the services of ei.&t civilians from the AEC, other governmentagencies and fran universities. Three of these were to furnish radiologicalsafety and medical legal advice to Colonel Cooney. The remainder are instnxent specialistsand scientistsbelieved necessary for the support of the operation, During the period, 1 November to 15 Dec&cr 1947, nu.crous discussionswere held with the Career A!anagementSections of the various bmches and services of the Army and Air Force and with the Bureau of Naval Personnel, It was faund that runy of the personnel requested in the basic menorandwnwere occup~61-1Skey positions in their own orCani.zationsand could not reasonablybe rmde available*

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enlbtcd cell. Iilter, about 15 Dccmber 1747, tho troop Li3t requireof the TrrskCroup at tho request of the J-2 Section of the hsk Force. On lj Jmuary 19i. XL7.6 indiated the requircmnts, by rumo, of Abart 22 J,muxy 1345 it XLS re;&isod that the requireczntsfor of nine officers,Lxiicnl Service Corps, USAF were requostod in who would be ~xxurticiyutingin work Mith or around rtiioxtive Ixtcrtil would rc,+re special physiccilexxximtiona prior to ls3vinC the white count, hcmo$.obin,culddiffcrenttil). Fon:m were mde for these specill phy3icclldxmixttions md sent to the mrious qcncics within dividml h3d unlcrgoho 3 cmplete phyaiml e?camin?tionwithin the previous six nontha no further c&xition other t!xm blocd count, urinarlysismd chest X-ray would be reqircd.

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muId be required in the event of ovcrwxposum, and What would actually constituteOV~IWZQ~~~C, was developedby Colonel Cooney and U. Colonel Houghton. Tkey also estabtihed exposure polkies with the basic form& at 0.1 roentgen per twenty-fourhours as mximm except for certain specific urgent missions where exposure up to 3 roenteens AE, Test Scientific Director, it was determined tkt all missions 5nwould be permitted unless approveriby Cammder, JTF-7.

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At a meetingon I.8Scpttier 1947 called by ColonelCooneya Bocd, was fomed to conaidertyDeaend quantitiesof instruments re#red for the operation. It woa estimatedtbt sufficient raciiologicalsafetyinstrumentsfor use by twenty-fivemonittxsas a r.v&numwouldbe neededfor fran one to three tests. The aubcanmitteewas irstructedto submitan interimreport,preferably withinone wecko The subcol;nittee'sfirstmeetingtook placeabout 20 September1947 at which time the varioustypes of instruments then availablewere discussed. Currentinformationon inatruqcnta in the Frocessof developnentwas subsequentlyobtainedby a rapidsurveyof work then going on in On 22 Soptexiberthe subcazmittee the basic rccacnendationabeing as follows: W!ot includedin total price

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D. Direct Rexiitq: Dosinetcrs prt3 of t!re country to dctcmino the st3ti13 of their dcvclopent work in t1ti.3 field. Contict wm mdo \vitll irbrcnted clpncics of the Amy, in accoixkwcc with their current prmiuction dcsiw 30

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B. The Rauland Corporationinstrumentis a portable alpha, reading only. It was further reccauacndodthat the instruxlentbe placed in a mot.alcasc. These modifiwould simplify the instrumentand parhaps effect D reduction in pricoo As a rooult of these specificationsthe Codol247-A (mociifiod) mmfacturcd by the National Technical tiboratories,and the modified the A. 0, Beckman Co. Standti range dosimoters (L2r) wcrc obtained tran the Cambridge Tn3trumontCunpany which miinufacturedthem primwily OS a result of stkulation by tho oubcanmittce. maters. This resulted from irrdccisionon tho part of Landsverkas to whether to expand his cxisttitg~Lxnt in Chicqo or combine with the the othor hand there was no promise of delivery on the higher raw0 It nppcored that kuxdiatc action rvasncedd and it was_.&he cauaittcc's,.-_"Tr,< placed 30 that Iilndsvc~~!i.m.i$t dcvotc hi3 time to the dclivcry of tile

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Delivery of the A. 0. fhclonln olectrametora by 15 J.uNu~~ MJ not consihrd’po~aiblo,, but 3n ordor W:M rocanmendal for tlro prpde of stimulzti~ pniuctior~ ~ourco~ irl addition to tlwo of Irukkwcrk. The qwintitio3 af eurvoy in3truswnto rocamiiorrlod did not iwludo alloumnco for more thn 31x wuuwd nircrdt, S!iouU more nircrdt bo by the Victoroen Ccxnp\y ahI dclivwcd ~pprd.w~~oly July 1947 to the In October 1947 the Lhu-cw of Ships hi urdor dovelopnalt b&wow tint 25 of tl:oso motcrs 3l1oul~i bo tc\kcn, Ccrmwdor Gould Ilurrtor who unfwornblo pro judicc\3 would

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but in Some in3tmcos qumtitim WCTO incrtmml, not2bb on the mod01 folt dcsimblc since the two instnmcnts cerc modificntionoof previous desiols which were considcrmircmor~b~ r;atiofactorymd it WXI felt tkt hculth protectionshouli not rest wholly on indiccrtionsobt&ned cstALisltd, ozdcrs for these imtrumcnts wore phxd through the AEL Dclivcq :htca wcrc short but in nhmast cvcry case tlw mnuhcturcrs wcro vex;; coopccmtivc in dtaqtb~ to met thm. c;Ltiom the list of Fnstrumnts rccamxnkd by the subccimittecbc turned over to the UC for procurcncnt. tijor AlaxwcU.Daucr, NiUtxy letter ~139sat to Xajor Ihucr containing lkits of itwtrumcntsarxi

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Baxes, Spre Pats, Electric31 In drming up the specifications,considemtion w3isgiven to the pxrticulx types of instrumentsbeih~ obtG.ncd and their prcboble use under tropicsl ckte conditions;eOgb all portable electronicsurvey instrumentswere to be provided with loose trmspcrcnt plastic rain On 5 knwmber 1947 ;Imemoraxium for Colonel Cooncy frax Major Dmcr indicated that the survey instrumcntowhich iud been requested NC.X% under p-ocurencllt by the m. Dust collectorsof improved design were being produced by the &ines %fcty Applimcc bwrur, Ten-thousmd Kodak Caqxxny which 1E.dalso promised infomtion concerningthe total In November 1947, Colonel honey, Captain Mna.nt, Lt. Colonel Boughton, Catmmder Andrcws cltxlLt, ConnwaderCampbellmade a trip

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inspectinga CVE sinilarto the one which MXS to be used to transport TG-7.6. It was decidedthat the after pilotready roomwould be the most desirableplacefor the instrumentrepairshop becauseof its space,air-conditioningand accessto tho hangordeck. Emmination of the ship'sphotographictiboratory indicatedthat it would be adequate for film badge processing if tlm temperaturecould be conas nor&or control centers. As soon as it was decided that a ship of the type examined could be used on the mission a letter requesting tlut necessarymodificationsbe mdc on the assigned ship was sent to the Chiefof NavalOperationson 17 Nommber 1947. made a visit to the National Technical Iaboratoriesin South F'asadena, California. Them it was discovcrcdthat the ion chamber survey instrumentbeing mnufactured by therams the model MX-2which was not the fieldinstrumentdesired for the proposed operation. Dr, A. 0, Bechn, president of this cmpa~, indicatedthat his concern could produce a much superior instrkcnt'axxirequested specifications. Ch fomalizirg this requestwere set forthin a mmorandum to Major lkuer on 22 Dcccmbor 1947. Qungcs were as follms: __

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The KaielLDG-6 was to be mnufacturedin accordancewith the e. Case to be mter-proof testedtier 5 feet of water Fol.la were the circuitrequiremnts: a. It muA be possibleto checkthe zero scttixg in a fieldaqua1 to the mximm radiationmxkmred by the instnnents, one of threeone-inchdrops producedby suddenly pullinga one-inchboard fram under one end of the instrment t!leneter readix~would not go over one-halffull scale on any rance of sensitivity, e. The instrumentwas to be calibratedby ,w rays from radiumand to conformto the sensitivities of full scaleat any point on the scale0 ing from one rangeto anothernot more than 10 secondswould be requiredto reach9%: of the

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The instmcnt to be sensitive to ~~IZ.LUradiation and the wall of the chamber to be composed of a material with the atanic number less tiun ton such that the i.rxAruzmcntwould be wave length independent'fra au S and ganna radiation with energies above 5 kp, and beta wrticles with cncr;;iw less than LO MEV to be cxcluded. The circuit'timcconstant to bc such tlut 908 of the fi1+31reading of the instrument would be reachod within 10 seconds or less. The ir~trumentto operate under the above requirements over rnngos of temperatures fromminus 5OC to 70' C .md with the relative humidity of 95% for a period of twenty-fourhours. The instrumentsto be baitcy operated with 6 tittery life which would provido opemtion for 30 day3 at a rate of S hour3 continuous ezh day. titterics to be oasib checked and replaced. %andxxi Army-Navy types of battorics suitable for tropical use were desired. It was rezilizedthat some oi the above specificationswould not be cwietely net and sane rel;wtion of the requirementswere On 6 January 1946 a letter was rccaived from l!r.Adrian D.&l. (ADZ> who had been attempting to place the contract for the LX-6 with the National Technical Iaboratorics. The National.Technical Laboratoriesrequest& the folkwing changes bo nude in tlrcspecifiThe warm-up period should be increased from one minute to two minutes. Tlo microphonic specificationsbe modified to include 3 zero shift of not more than 2$ of full scale on any one of the drops dura the microwith operation up to and above 70' C desired. The battery life to be 25 days at a rate of 8 hou& continuous each day. The ruximum exposure roldable on the,tu-opos&

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The above ckmgx~ in spccificcltionswere agreed to by all. Various itms of supply covcriq 3.wide raxe of ruterialrrere Colonel Cooney expressessp;wxi2tion for types of kstrunents to I)Juar,bIr,Ikay, and L!r,l&l in their procuremnt. If it for their outstmdirq cffffortit wou2.dluve been impossible to as loading coordimtor of of imtrxxxnts in such 3.short tino, WE-U.5, both for mterial and personnel Ihr Ij January 1948 Lt, Cazxnder Capbell estAblishedan office in rrJpresC?ntitive of Caxierj Task Group 7,6 and exercised active aLso acted as receiving officer for xxdiologic& safety Jxxteriill which lud been shipped to Tetmiml Xslmd, Cslifornk, x SJTUU group assisted Lt, Comandcr CazpbeU. in the inspection 3t this tim and of all mterial

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As a result of nrulysis mde on CROSSRCAD3 teckical infornztion d&ted that rxuchadditioml infollrutiongas necdai to rrdequatclyprcp3re for defense against atcxaicbczb ntticks, nents whichwouldbe desirable in any future tests. Theso were Russell, USN, of the AZ, and later t&StkAdmiral Parsons and Admiral Parsons, su(;i;cstcdthat Dr. Scoville be redo available to work on planning for the forthcwing tests. ArrangementsK~TCCm=de to submit a smooth copy of this program and discuss it with Dr. Norris @n 9 Septetxbcr1947 the program was submitted to Dr. Eraibury and discussed at a netting at rrhicl:Dr. Ikadbury, Captain Russell,

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au Keutron spoct m d. Xcutron flus versus tine c. LIG range detection meting Dr, Bradbury raised the question of who muld be the ,m radiation measwments, the AEC felt it was ixtdvisableto request kis services fron the Ckxiercll XLcctric Cmpany at this tine, cussion of possible mans of 2.~p~~rwnt3tiOn, &I 29 Septanber 1947 2n estimte of t!icequipxnt and pcrsomel 1 October attcndcd by Dr, firnun, Colonel Cooncy, Dr, Clark, Dr, Alvin C, Graves, of the University of Ckdifornia Scientific Iaborcltor~, Colonel Cooney would mcasurc the gaxz radiationversus distance, It was proposed that …