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Division of Biology and & fiche c MONTH OF JANUARY 1954 Ileapons Test Activities 1.1onitorjng Program f o r Operation CeSTI,E. - Plans have been completed f o r the operation of a world4.de mnitofiw program t o measure and collect radio a dive ' f d - out W ng the ZorthcOming test series inthe Pacific. lished throughout the world, with concentrated networks in areas of the United States and inthe Pacific near ground zero. continuous recording monitors w i l l be placed on the islands of Ponqe, Kusaie, Rongerik, Majuro, Ruh, Yap, Wake, Iwo Jima, Mihag, Kwajalein, only small amounts of rz dio a dive fall-out had occurred. information collected by t h e automatic recorders will be of palue to the aerial monitoring groups measuring radioactivity through the use of air-borne scintillation instruments. ground mRitors, negative flights may be eliminated and flight pate em rescheduled to operate more effectively. Collections of fall-out materid. will also be made aboard several hunhd United S.tates naval vessels traveling the North Pacific ocean routes. This will permit detection of fall-out which is carried by winds t o t h e open sea. areas of the Pacific Islands i n relation t o open water make it difficult predict the fall-out patterns accurately, and observations in these open ocean areas w i l l yield more complete information. A network of 1s stations has been estabMonitoring of these islands &.mi.ng past test series showed Based on the findings of t h e The small total Procedures for monitoring radioactivity were initially established by the Commission in 1951 in t h e northeastern states during the RANGE3 t e s t series. In 1952 the program had been expanded fron a natiomi.de operation during t h e nrY and UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE series. is maintained continuously between test series. The monitoring program provides the Commission w i t h documentary evidence concerning the amount and distribution of fall-out from nuclear weapons tests f o r use in evaluating radioactive contamination f o r immediate, as well as long-
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Investigations of Radiation Effects on Sheep--Operation been completed in connection with reports t h a t sheep had been allegedly injured by fall-out particles during the spring 1953 test detonations, The unusually heavy losses of sheep grazing north of the test site during the test period were estimated near several thousand head. experiments, post-mortem examinations, and studies of range conditions, show that radiation could not have been a contributing factor in the sheep losses. A final.report was prepared on the findings, and a special meeting was held a t Cedar City, Utah with the sheep owners, reviewed in detail to permit discussion of the findings. ing included specialists from AEC, U.S, Fublic Health Service, U-S. Deparbent of Agriculture, and the U t a h State Agricultural were also present, Investigations , including laboratory Copies of the report were distributed and %presentativ+s of the press and a local radio station Feasibility Co&ttee--Ope ration JANGLE. The l?easibility Committee met in J guar y to review the criteria and assumptions for radio logi d safety that were initially established for JAMCrLE in 1951 (surface and underground detonations), Discussions were held on the actual radiological conditions which existed a f t e r the detonations. Based on these findings, estimates and calculations w e r e given of possible radiological contamination that would result from nuclear devices of larger yield for surface and underground detonations at t h e Nevada Proving Grounds. Recommendations made by the Committee concerning establishment of an operational guide for whole-body gamma radiation for the general off-site population and the continuation of t h e air sampling and monitoring program for future test series will be presented t o the General Manager by the Director of the Division. Project SUNSHINE. -A conference was sponsored jointly by the Division and Rand Corporation i n & nuwto review- - progress of Project SUNSHD to date-and to direct future efforts in the s t u d y of possible world-wide contamination with radiostrontium from nuclear detonations, way for several months and includes a world-Wde program for sampling of soils, forage crops, animal bones, The project has been under
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and products (milk, cheese, etc,), as w e l l as human materials (particularly skeletons of stillborn infants and human m i l k ) , notable that radiostrontium has been observed i n many parts of the world; however, the concentrations are too low to establish a biological hazard as a result of detonation of any practical'&er of on a value of maximum permissible body burden established by the National Committee on Radiation Protection. ardy, however, this value would be unrealistic. Present considerations of biologiczl hazzrds are based I n times of national jeopA group of radiobiologists, with rac3oisotope experience, was - assembled to consider t h e practical aspects of biological hazards due ated with various amounts of radiostrontium in t h e human skeleton, from barely observable effects up t o letha3ity. These calculations can form the basis for further estimates of secondary bomb hazards. In addition to making t h e estimates, it is planned to initiate laboratory experiments t o check the estimates. cases, particularly those i n which patients have been treated with radiostrontium,will be assembled and reviewed f o r pertinent informaThis group estimatedthe degree of hazard associ-, A l l available data on hwnan Additional tracer experiments on' humans may also be practical. Liver Protein Alteration 'in Radiation Injury, (UNCLASSIFIED) By the use of electrophoresis, investigators a t the I-kdiCa3. College of Virginia have recently revealed a substantial change i n the const it uti on of the proteins of the liver of rabbits exposed t o @ O r of cent of the normal soluble l i v e r proteins, disappears within 24 hours after irradiation and i s still absent after 9days (the limit of observations at the time of the report), One of the major components, constituting about 1s per It i s 'known that this particular component undergoes a change i n electrophoretic mobility under circumstances in which the.oxidation of the protein's sulfhydryl groups i s to be expected, Such a shift would make this component indistinguishable (electrophoretically) from other large components and could account for its apparent "disappearance.11 The idea that this oxidation is actually what happens after irradiation i s supported by the fact that the missing components can be made t o reappear by incubation of the protein extract with certain sulfhydryldonating chemicals, and that the loss can be prevented by giving cysteine imnediately before the X-ray exposure. Isolation and analysis of this reactive component is now being attempted, and if this is successfuJ-, its biological activity as a prexmtive o r therapeutic agent against radiation damage will be tested.
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Tissue Breakdown Fol loi fi ~Radiation, (mCGSSDIED) A t the University of Rochester School of Pkdicine some interesting studies are i n progress which include the assessment of tissue breakdown (based on hippuric acid synthesis) occurring in animals subsequent t o exposure to ionizing radiation, This group is at te wt kg to measure tissue degradation by determining t h e release of glycine and substances i n biological equilibriu?n,with this amino acid from tissue proteins labeled with glycine-2-C14 prior to exposure t o ionizing radiation. It has been denonstrated that total body x-irradiation (700 roentgens) causes a significant increase inthe isotope concentration of hippuric acid .during the first six hours following radiation expos.ure i n rats given several doses of glycine-2-C14 prior to the exposure. the %issuebreakdotm is initiated by ionizing radiation. Additional experiments using benzoic acid - carboxyl Cl4 indicate t h a t radiation does not interfere with benzoic acid conjugation. This suggests that &gnetic Spectrometer f o r High Intensity Measure. (UNmSSIFBD) A magnetic spectrometer capable of measuring gamma rays of high intensity has been designed and constructed under an AEC-National Bureau of Standards of the Commission t o improve quantitative methods f o r measuring radiation i n the high intensity regions. Its completion represents apart of the total effort The ganma rays having energies up to12IBV impinge on athin beryllium foil target r & ich in turn ejects Compton electrons ina direct i o n incident to the gamna ray bean, The momenta of these electrons are then measured using a photomultiplier with an anthracene scintillator, Photon energies in the range of .2 t o 1 2 HEV can be measured with an accuracy of 2 per cent. Intensities of photons can be determined with an accuracy of 10 per cent. difficult, however, and a considerable sacrifice in resolution must be made t o boost the detector counting rate for a given sowce strength, I n spite of its relatively low sensitivity for photon measurements, the spectrometer has certain advantages over other types. range that brie es the ranges covered, for example, by a spectrometer Wing photoelectrons and one using pakr electrons. intense sources, it i s capable of operating with good resolution. if the electron trajectories are accurately h o r n , the photon intensities. Over this wide energy range can be determined from the spectrometer measurements by a direct method. Measurements of weak photon sources are more . It covers an energy Civil Defense Activities Aped Forces Special 6convened-bx
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current status of plans f o r future conttnental weapons tests. sentatives of AEC, the Department of Defense, and the Federal C i v i l Defense Administration were i n attendance, Items included: (a) Proposed partictpation of FCDA i n Operation TEAwf; (b) Military projects in limited thermal radiation program; (c) Consideration of procedures f o r comparing FCDA and mXLitary effects projects. Operation TEkpoT on weapons effects, phenomena measurements, and a / FCDA plans include additional effects data on residences, components of buildings, st&cturea, civil defense trak n hg similar to Desert Rock maneuvers, and an "open shot" with public news media repreFCDA program at the r a t i o of 10 private dollars to one government dollar. It is proposed to enlist private industry support f o r the k number of meetings Kill be arranged inthe,future to attain proper coordination for each agency's requirements. FCDA indicated that their planning would be accelerated i n order to complete pre l mary coordination prior &to submitting their program t o the Commission's Test Planning and Screening Codtt ee, Briefings for Life Insurance Association of America, (UIJCUISSIFIED) !The AEC at the reauest of the Federal C i v i l Defense Administration arranged a classified brie k ng for the Civil Defense Committee of ,the Life In s make AssociatLon t o acquaint the group with the responsibilities of civil defense as related to the national security program. Divisions of Raw Materidls, Production, Yilitary Application, and Reactor Development presented material. In this connection, the Association was ' a l s o briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, and Office of Defense I.lobilization, and plans t o introduce the subject of civil defense responsibility at their Association meet- i n the spring. h present at ives of the Radiation Instruments Program Neutron Instrumentation. (UNCLASSPmD) The Division sponsored an infomml conference on neutron instrumentation on January 28 f o r an exchange of ideas on the problem associated with neutron dosimetry and possible new instrumentation approaches to this field. The discussion group consisted of representatives from AEC research groups engaged in the radiation protective aspects of neutron instruiientation. I t e m covered were: (1)review of the neutron measurement problems; (2) reports on the performance of presently available instruments; and ( 3 ) current deirelopnents and possible future trends . The conference provided an opportunity to bring the various research groups together t o effect closer coordination, and to direct efforts toward new approaches i n research and development of neutron instrumentation.
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Scintillation Counter Symposium was held in Washington on January 26 and 27 under joint auspices 03 theSC, Nationdl Bureau of Standards, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and the Institute of Radio Xngineers. Approrimately 350 persons attended the symposium and represented many fields of scientific endeavor a d industrial interests. ¢ progress was revierred, and the reports indicate clearly that increased dependence i s being placed on scintillation counting techniques. This emphasizes the importance of ins~rumenta- - tion in the fields of science and technology, and the need for continued exchange of information between the instrimentation groups.