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Declassified record · U.S. Department of Energy

Preparation and Operational Plan of Medical Group (TR-7) for Nuclear Explosion 16 July 1945 La-631 (Deleted)

Dated
Jun 13, 1947
Document type
Report
Length
33 pages
Open the original scanArchive record OSTI ID 16059767 · public domain

Archive description

Log of activities immediately after trinity shot. Weather contingency plan, monitoring plans, evacuation plan.

Document text

Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA o LOS ALAMOS NEW MEXICO Not to be taken from this room GHOUP (TR-T) fcr KUCLEAH EXPLOSION 16 JULY 1945 For the AtcALc Energy Ccrrslssion

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or Liven t.M Do line leap Explosion lc of Prepare, tl on of •tlio liedical Group forv L 4 Before Trinity Shot Trinity 'Post II as of 10 in Caiiin Inr.nod iatoly

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY B. Bo tailed Plans for Of f-SI te I.’.or.i toro C» Detailed Buie:; for Pcracnncl at flno •. of Shot and Do tailed. Plano for IJonl-- BEST AVAILABLE COPY

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY 5. Dlroctlcno Sor Pcroonnel at Dane-Camp at Tise 7. Sample of Plerio to Iconic in Goin~~In Parties' BEST AVAILABLE COPY

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY D« 'Aobor cold’s Calc ala tlono on Activity and Radiation 112

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED leaves Base canp with guard to nonitor Broadway i given permission by 0° bo N-9COO to recover reaches Guard host 2, and is held by guard.at this post, reports intensity of 2r oar hour 100 years south of !i-10,000, asks perrdssion to evacuate this shelter. Permission granted by ho activity reported at Tteot 10,000 and South 10,000. reports Broadway uncontardnated. -Tank and crew leaves S-10,000 for crater region. All other going-in parties postponed because iiedical Group became 9:05 a.m. -15r f-r hour reported for region 7 miles northeast of Binghas by Radio contact with monitors becomes incre-isingly worse-no further n die contact after this report. f^BHHBBScalled in from 5-10,000 to Base Camp for conference -vLth MHm it is decided should leave at once to help n.or.itcrs. flMV ordered in fror Albuquerque. ,\11 southbound plansc from Kirkland field grounded by order of dispatched to nelp il:Xi an.. release' planes on basic of calculation

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED east.vard 10 nales. r.eadtntj at Binpham 2.0 r per hour, saxitans intensity on this road 2-0 r per hour at a point h-5 miles east of troops at ijinovia. The area alon^ Hicli^ay 380 (Bin^ha..; to is 90 percont of tolerance. .'.11 high readings in uninhabited areas, 1) mHPVshill check high readings (l5«0r per hour) found by BVB nertheast of Bingham tn.i sivall ascertain whether or not there are ranches nearby* He will be accompanied by this vicinity. ftsr this ]i.» rill re tarn to Project Y to ivl for first 15 inilen nrrth'.rird. BEST AVAILABLE ' COPY

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY Monday afternocn: 12 July roadways t.o conta.T.ir«ted areas. For details see r’^orts of raonitors. investigate hot canyon and find family in adob* house approximately 1 oi3». east of hottest region (See report in temporarily against evacuation because of relative low radiation intensity.. ' Parties go into crater throughout this and succeeding days (See< Party consisting of and left Trinity for Los Alamos, remain in ease Cas;p in charge of monitoringresults. Tho plotting of the decay curves for different urea indicated that as to the evacuation of the family in tho hot canyon was discussed.. It was decided that this was not necoss.ury at this tirePRIVACYACT MATERIAL REMOVED BEST AVAILABLE '' COPY

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED .•isli tho cloud tiiovor. ir. tho o.cr.o tjuth of Carrieozc, end [•}} the indoten . to choc ir. which tho cloud movoc in any other direction, from’tJiooo'ji-rc: centiauouely rocicdics rediation motors and PiltcT-Wuoca^rooui no Oa road £87 about' 10 mil 00 S of Hnaon will bo S/j IBM do On road 6o/fi4 bottmon Tolar and 'Kalrose irill bo .fto will bo ctationod on the lava bods il*Ts.-. -o’f dr at has,vo 11 vrith a Filter Zv.oon and faoilit r-z South along road So5? to soo where tho cloud crosses 25:5n

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ho monitoring of tcvr/O iraiot of nocoooifcy be. on a in viiich CiiO c lend -.;-»o:.e jiven in (1) and • The moni torinj' astupo ror rumentb at these four monitoring sites will be set up. ;4 to 6 Roving monitor stationed'at Carrlnono of the above .•.aor:; arid koepinp contact with headqnartore in Aibucucroue, iio non a to

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The initial plana for protection of personnel at Trinity'Test II were the rerolt of t.vo me»tin<;3 in ftarch 19«5 of a committee composed of R. Watte, theae meetings centered aho\it three nuir. topics, 1) danger to personnel at the : and in the neighboring areas during and after the shot, 2) medico-legal aspects of the^e hazards and 3) instruments and organization needed to cope tfith the ab< hazards- The hazards and organisation were presented at a meeting with Colonel '"arre.n and I/x- Bainbridge on 12 April IPUS*^ The agenda for the meeting and the ' ’ notes thereon are included in this section. . A definite plan of operation and instrumentation resulted from this meeting which was tested on a small scale in ' ’ ' The data obtained in Trinity Test I gave us a better idea of ffhat to expect in the final test. Previous to this shot, the only information on the of the radioactive materials was gleaned from the RaLa experiments. Numerous - resulted in a wc.rkia<: model of t» e explosion and of cloud of fission products. On tiie ba *is of this concept, a detailed plan of operation was prepared by ^ Caouiin Rolan .<bo took charge of the medical hazards aspect of Trinity Test II shortly after the 5 shot. The plan as of 20 June 19m5 is included in this , opprnxi.-.ate those of the first te-t with a relatively strong -vind toward the sou the r.t c:-rryin,-; the cloud south of'Carrizozo. The danger to persons in near towns from active iratsriHl falling froni the cloud -fas recognized (see memo Hirschfelu :r to lainoridge, 16 June l?u5) but the plun of evacuation of personn

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Crove's office to use military troops to evacuate persons in danger areas and representative at Trinity was surveying the potential ' ‘ 20, June 19ii5* Captain Nolan and Ta-1 •iebers'o'ld-went to Dan Riuge for approval of •• the plan; they conferred with General Groves and-Colonel Warren about the liedical During the last week in June, it became evident that we could not count on the aeteorologie conditions requested by Captain Nolan because of the pressure being brought to bear to shoot as soon as possible, (see Memo Oppenbeimer and ' ’ ■ Bainbridge to It. Daley, 30 19^5) Hence, there was feverish activity on our part to make the town monitoring program flexlbl e .enough to adapt itself tc whichever wind condition prevailed when the test was ready. - Those plans arc - / discussed in detail in the memos of Joe Hoffman on 5 July, ? July and 10 July, 1VU5« They are based upon close cooperation of the monitors with the G-2 representatives of It. Daley stationed at various towns. The dutv of the G-2 men was to observe .. the event from a certain spot and to observe public reaction. Following this they-, were free to work with our monitors. . ‘ On 1 June IpliJ, it was learned that Captain Nolan would not be present _f‘ at the Trinity Shot because of a special overseas assignment. He continued in . charge of this operation until 9 June 191*5 when Hempolmann took over the respon- # sibility. During the week of 7/2/l*5, Watts and the men of his group moved their '

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PRIWCy ACT MATML REMOVED be at S-10,000 at lime of shot for final eonr.ult'tion on meteor* . or. all plans - to be at Base Camp during shot and to provid radio communications to town monitors (4HH|^ret al). ' Lt. Colonel OHM consultant) _ to provide secondary communications ce in Albuquerque in case radio contact from Base Camp b in charge of town monitoring; only person with authority to orders for evacuation; assisted by MHBMISMMMfr, HIHHl Major in charge of evacuation troops; assisted by S4ajor^ - in charge of Site Monitoring; assisted by 1 . Ci PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMO',r‘

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY PRIVACY AfitMATERIAL REMOVED ' 7 July 1045 ::o, place, and nnturo of the radiation measurement mado,. Tho monitors have been ostabllohed in a manner such .-- f:;c ill'onto their nhiftin-j coolly from tho Morth to the South.. On road 54- about 15' tuiloo t • :icntly in advance tho monitors will deploy alcng the possible ir, that direction. In this event the cloud moves in an--un~:/. -ted manner its general Gircc tion ' should bo gotten from :'i rcuc hc.adcTUir tors. " Tjio moni tor-should thon drive to the largo town near which the cloud is expected to pass. . ’ The monitors will moct, previous to the shot at' fan ta Fe ors will act. mex’ely as ebaervero and only I.ir to call Albuquorcuc 'to advise on evacuation. T!:e c stationary meters will-bu the reaponoibilifcy of lir. • v.-j-io "'.'ll pick them up and measure bho alpha roc or Gin gs PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED

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BEST • AVAILABLE COPY t PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED Procedure to be used by Town Monitors Lt, Davies,, the claims officer for the Trinity projoot, what procedures should • .. . bo used to legalise your monitoring records for tho outlying countr.Vs . Ge arked • that you and your monitors keep as complete notes aa possible in your own hand. 'v11. vriting to be signed and filed away by you for future reference. These notes can -Vr; be written up more fully at a later date but in any court proceeding it is neoessary TFe disoussed the following mee surements which you plan to use and agreed that they should be handled in the following wayi ■ (1) Film sent out by registered mail to neighboring towns i .... • ' v These will be sent out from Albuquerque by one of Lt. Daley's men who will keep a •'u.reful record of the number of each film, the plaoe to which it is sent eto/- H* .nil make sure that the films have not been tampered with by carefully examining . ^ho:-' containers and will mail ono out of each doron to you in the Technical Area mc be developed and kept as a control. You will keep a record of the receipt and ; : t.:z development of these control films. ■ The films will be collected in the various post offices by Lt, Daley's ... wa vithin five days after the shot. They will keep careful records as to the . rogistry number of the envelope, the time of collection, etc and trill plaoe them . io load boxes provided them by us. They will give the films to you in Santa 7e. 4 '• You will keep a record of receipts of these envelopes in your own handwriting, will bring them to the Teohnioal Area and will either develop and read them yourself , cr be with when this is done so that you can testify that you have witnessed this operation. It is important that you keep notes of the development (2) Stationary instruments which give permanent records: . Ccreful notes will be taken by you as to when the instruments are turned on and y,- off, aa to when they were calibrated and as to the serial number of the instruroedts. You yrin also sign the records and montion the time, plaoe and date, ' . ir.flss will be collected by the chief monitor (fpHBHl) at various points in the ' ;.’'.idcr.7 of the cloud five ore more hours after the cloud has passed. They will be plar.od in marked, sealed bottles by the chief monitor who will sign his name to a ''n the bottle and will be brought to the Technical Area to bo turned over to ■’* '.h-mist for analysis. The chemiats vrill keep careful record of tho reo?ipti the samples and will'save tho final plates as evidence- If the samples are to analyzed hy^p^MM In hie uncontomioated laboratory, arrangements can be made ^or to help ""Ith the collection of camples. It is also important -••■jit ccntrcl camples be taken from the same areas before the arrival of the cloud Se2a.uie of the possibility of natural radio-3.otivity in the earth. .

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY eh.~ro on tho road ho ntops. tlri tirco xihca i;o rirrt .%coa the c]oudp its ■■■> Anatrnswoit iinaiodir.tolv boforo the reading ia nadcin • Those records will bo 'saciro incidnuti All of your rocordc rrill 3>o kept oo timt they coa'bo "••••:•' BEST AVAILABLE COPY

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY Clouds Path (on-the Bab y will chock; housoo rut cannot orddr' ©vacuatidh-urildos who is only monitor with authority to order, ovachatioh loca tions are now bo.ln,~ prep ired by nan.’ • BEST AVAILABLE COPY v

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us }r.»?tnj.-scnt.o will hr.ro bom dej oaited there by T/lj. Tlio directions taken by the monitors will depend cn whothcr it is. ’in hcadquartors or i.ii alerted. Specific in struct ion 3 ao to tho rasver.ionifroro in. each case a.-c given below:.

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BEST AVAILABLE COPY PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED • 45 In tiio Soutli blc-.7 ho will move i'ror.i Cavrie.oso South •• lo rdz-ca and affccr locating bho cloud carry out the r.easu: In tho South blow hi will drive SE. alonj 3S0 to Ilcndo, . will follow ]iliu)l.Te- will then 30 ulcn*j 70 toward Hollyco ace v/hero the cloud crocoen 70 and jr.ako Tuoaourciaentc . Then the data, wi0.1 do .nhenod to Albuquerque from tho near In the edr.e of tho North blow lid r/ill move point 10 milca beyond tho junctich of roads li alonti oaten the roads and make measuremen to.. Thcoo should be .phoned /•.Ibuqu croue from. the no are s't phone s tat ion Vaughn to hoar, from hcaclqv.drtora of^BailBB®."report, hvill be In tho South blow will novo al’ons 335 to a point • ■ond crosses tho road. Roughly, it hhonld bake" 4 hours for tho ".'; wtui to jet there. Afbor in- is certain that the cloud has passed hculd have passed (allow 3-hours time) he should make meacuroIn tho North blow "rill wait until information from- ■ oud .-ortales. He should allow 3 hours.for cloud to pass. nave come over from Vuu.-hn to lui :hc cans of tho hcabh biov;i

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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED It crocoos 03, which siny a point L'aot .or host of - tn tho !!oi*th’blov; ho should malco jneayuremento Cloud be toe tion t ' ’• ".acn us 8 nours crow). The' raetcorlocisto caooct near cne ciond out not fer a bir.:e Ion^ enough to be usoi'u?. BEST AVAILABLE COPY

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UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE ■crxn to EVACUATION DETACHMENT AT TRINITY officers, 140 vehicles, including one 500 gallon impro- ' ’ vised isater tank for drinking purposes, 2 lister bags, "Kn rations, coffee, sugar, milk, and 3 field ranges. The detachment was formed into four platoons of ’ . nine vehicles each. The first and second platoons ' made-up the first section under the Command of Capt. Huene. The third and fourth platoons made-up the • . second section under the CoBimand of First Lt. H- Miller. Each vehicle had a driver and two men; three Jeeps, …

The text continues in the original scan (33 pages).