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Declassified record · U.S. Department of Energy

H-Division Progress Report February 20 - March 20, 1953 (Redacted)

Dated
Mar 20, 1953
Document type
Report
Length
21 pages
Open the original scanArchive record OSTI ID 16295298 · public domain

Document text

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

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1. lCIoh tiw md effort have b a n rmnt in an rtkqt * 3 0 4 E o t a p cro8s-cilibration of film exposures vith thoso from tho Buroau of St du dr. Mum CorpmaUon in hbaruy. Tho f oll dag iaionvtion yu obtrindr I ) radium caprr30r can bo eagravui by the producer I f rmquortrd a t tho ti.0 tho purchaw order is placed; b) o f to8tiag aourcos for loaks, vhich is quite similar t o our p ~ ocdwe ,ha8 k.n urd by this co apa q sinco 1927. 3 . Ut.d activity at Ton S i t e has &e posriblr the stopping of I. On kch 2, a start vas d e on the di-tling of tho Omga Put oncod to dato. An additiooil mnitor h.8 boon ar8ignd t o tbat rite t o huuilo tbir So high exporurrs or above toleraace air counts hate k e n e-ri5.AC ~ Oho a aiv es unoy of tho extornil radimtion bsud rooountored at vu io us opamtiag lorel8 of tho Vmkr Boiler i 8 king =do.

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to be roturad t o tho 8uppUor for repackaging. 8. Tha flliof rodhm murcir baa been brought upt0-d.t.. Our file 10. On k c h 17, the eight 11. Source No. 270, a 2500 mg rdim sourco has bean boTrwsd for an iadifiaite period from GT Site. 12. A rocord of the nu8ber of boxer of cont dr utd w ste t&an t0 the burial p i t for this report period vas prepared for H - 5 . 13. The hdth program for the CIIR-8 laboratory a t DP Yort vas diOcu86d

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on Much 9 after rperding areas dter the Pajarito of the operating personnel 1: i :to t h e extent that t h e monitor ucbigmd from H-1 war recall& on Much 12. Ra- ' :, surreys of th8m 8ro.11 vill be made to de tar in a the u o unt of re-contamination i r occurring. Vith om exception, dl ur indy ses mu king report& are toleraoce figures. In M rttmt t o obtain additional bio logic d in- 'I.aatsipllbd to Pajrrito sinee Doc. 21, 1952, are king ro-cruPp1.d f o r urine only. for personal clothing or equip ent uhich va5 loot kcause of the contamimtion ; resulting from this imi a ent have been evaluated by contacting the perso d

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Accident Cost per lO0,DOo Miles 1. Three accidents involved LASL drivers king h i t by private auto-

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1. Rokt Panlad urirul a t the -.dr Test Site oa Fob. 24 t o act 2. Tho Group Larder was a t the Nevda Roving Grouad8 from h r c h 12 through 18. In addition t o tho u d work, b. dso uorkd vith tho Lbs Uvos hfeme ud Di8ut.r ComittOe there to uitmrs a shot and i t a effects of interest t o that group. 3. I&. H.rb n tRe in hud, Safety Consultant, vas at the Nevada Proring GrOUrdS horn Wch 15 through 18, a d was a t Io8 Almos March 19 a d 20. Mr. Reinhard is a specialist on coq res sm gases and advised the Laboratory on related problems during his stay atthe Test Sited Los -0s. I.Aamey of the new GW-2 Group facilities at Anchor Ranch &st u.8 held as t be tw n tie th meeting of the progrnm for the nIndoctrimtion of Security and ?ire Protoction Per rod. " 5 . Mr. Humphrey Gil kr t of the Washington AEC Safety Office visit & the Laboratory for the purpose of auditixq the accident reports a M records with Mr. Eduin L. Brauley o f the Santa Fe :perations Xfice,Safety ana Fire He was colducted on a tour of several Laboratory facilities, dong 6. Reviw of preliminary design and operating plans foz,,thJJ$St John Storer and Payns Harris presented papers a t the meeting of the Subcommittee on Catrracts of the National Research Council in Washington, D O C . Zohn Storer attelried t h e A% Biomedical 3irectors' Meeting a t =LA. Could gave a lecture at Johns Hopkins Hospitd and vent t o kgonne Cancer Research

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The paper on t b e eifects of radiation on thq.ua nucleic acid was A large ktch of Armou.r*s bovine fibrinogen has boa subjected t o purification no that a uniform preparation of fibrinogen willk available for future radiation atudies. Co nUt mts d with other plam proteins a s -11 arc on rid ~ abl es dt. The Armour preparation of fib rime en is heavily Work on the preparation o f desoxyribonucleic acid fiom pneumococcus plnumococcu8 organiam, is used agun for gro v iq B. subtilis. a good preparation of desoxyribonucleic acid can k obtained from B. subtilis. In addition, the media, after ita use for @ovine the It is hoped that %me infrared absorption spectra h.va beon made cholesterol ester8 from total lipid extract of plasma. alumina were found t o behave differently ad the concentration o f material i n the migid petroleum ether solution uao founf t o be a factor. of triglycerides, choleeterol esters ard free cholesterol can m u be re&rrly Sharp sep u ation About 15tir rues from each of two dogs which had been kept atn constant platma T-cholestsrol specific activity for two weak8 are king uorksd up ani the isolated cholesterol assayed. the cholesterol i n most tissues is rapidly replncad by o r 8xchme.d with blood Result8 establioh d ~ finite l ythat cholesterol in dogs. This experiment is not y e t completed.

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Tritium laklod cholic acid has boon prop ud bp exchurgs ani is Aluge mount o f T-dihydrocholesterol vas prepared as a star dud ud for Liquid scintillation counting was foulld t o be applicable to tramlucent in w lub le carpourds such as KC1 (25,000 c/m of natural activity) and silica gel containing sdsorbed THO. Throe studies on tuo patients at the Rgomm Caaeer Reseuct Horpitil (faly high cholorterol) diet ud again later on s low chole8torol diet. Blood, urine, and respiratory C02 srapler vera taken a t intervals for reverd d&ys after rack do60 and are beixq uorked up for S.A. and t o t a l counts i n C02, cholesterol, fatty acids, total blood organic C , and total urine organic C. Om pet irn tum given 100 pc of C' acetate on a Mgh calorie A patient u i t h terminal cancer was fed T-ctolesterol daily for aI;1 % (%ek t o nLint.;in approximately constant blood cholesterol S.A., then given 13100 pc Cu acetate and a few hours later adrcdectomized. hcle,rda swiss of blood samples wore suppod t o os ~ amo sand are being < lgorked up here. Urinuy 17 ketosteroids are being isolated in Chlcago ard will . . shipped horo for rrsry. The objectives include determiniw ifthe 17 keto- (ad thoroforr the adrenil cortical hormones) &re made from c to ls ster ol synthe612ed from acetate and other smdll fragments, and d s o if humans rbChOUn8tU8SO uaa continued, and includod the mrkiw radiation on purified

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corvtrnt rah.. with lavrrd lu ting rolocfty, iadicatinq th8t tho e m The irnartigation of the effect8 of wUic ions on tho kin stic IQ ud Ca. Tho &facta of Wa d I( appou to be mrupecific a& merely a fuaetion of ioaie coaemntration, vhile thoae of the divalent cation8 are -0 radiation of mice a d rats has teen completed. Uitb the exception of sow minor changes i n pH a d rather more significant incraasor i n uric acid ami urea, there were few alteration8 in the blood electrolytes arrl the protein components studled. Laboratory mi quipe nt verc set up for polymr studies ud a lad neutronr. Polynrs are to be irradiated after the addition of various of the ch uic rl th8rrpeutic agents previously fod to be effoctiro in i-adla-

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prosent. Iahibition aould be rrrer8s.d by pyridorirv ud it8da it at ive a. mnm was reversed or 8fI.ct.d by the addition of p vida riaa .rd its dorivatiror. The data u e kimg dpa dad the wrk i s king pr.pud for publication. source h.8 been calibrated adir ready for we.A IYU tost spt@8uring a nicotinic acid-requiring mutant of E . coli is being set up for us0 as this organism i r nore ramitire. Sow tiw u m spent using this mource for cdihratioaa to bo urd on the N.ra& torts.This group also aped con6idrrable tke this month on the Z~Conhmprocedure t o be urdin the Nevada test studi.8. A luge p u t of this pnrt month has ben spent in the calibration of the new Co60 source at Beta Site. PesoL do rho try hrk rn checked agrinrt Victorsen cbmbets and a calibration ewe ha0 been mde in prop pti on for, uing Pe SOA dorimetry at Nevada.

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gation of tho problom is plumed. Tho roport on tho acuto colpourrdr i s king propuod. The 6tudy of the chronic toxicity of U233 .ad is continuing. A proliaiaary study on tho offect of tho- IyutroM on nu rival i n rats h r boon co~p10t.d. Tho d a k warm obtained in ordor to compuo the RBE found i n thir v a t u uith tht previously obtriad uming Pas9 uptake by rod c e l l s in ordor to .*rluato tho thoria advanced by mmmroua imortigatorr that natrons u e difforontiilly effective in producing nrrow d . ~ ge. A pro li nio ug study iadicatos that nmphthle~orad pyrogalloi ergthropoictic hyperplasia, respoctivoly)(rgoatr cauaiol( q dopo io tic are ineffoctivo in rltoring radiation sensitivity i n mice.

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?ha dmte rarpiratory tolumo of mica a t various rirmlatod alti - tud.8 h r bean datamiad for project 4.1 in forthcoring Nsrada tarts. with Ikgoo, Ellfarood, .rd Sudarr, rarprctirsly: Tirruer Following Intrr-ukrid ud Intr~rsrrourLLinirtrmtion io Rats. Roducing Biological Effocts. I. Lack of Effect of Hypoxia ud Glutathion in

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~Iarography, radioautography, ud pathologicrl b ioc mr try. the Loa Angales Meting of tho krrican C b d c d Socirty, Muoh 15-19. d . C'-hbolod aitrogea must ud which hd kea shipped to Oak Ridge pur if id.

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quarterly runoy dmnrtrate that tho average rxporuro of dl parrronml i n t h i 8 Imothor phrs of tabor pti on factor I a 8- of tho self-aborption factor

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tbo local Haalth DIputwnt is arristing i n this 8tudy. A rmntil.tion rtw V.B 4 0 of t k 20 prchloric acid boodr in 3-2 were also r orl ~with the Engineering Do put w nt on hood6 Con fao a err hn boon hold r?t-rr ticre d pars m moths th9 ekmgr. end & t o \ on the prom rrthod of vontilating the ammy operation where cb lord oic I t was alro rwomem3.d that tricbloroothylon, k wod for rroring chlmomloic Rocomo--ldations YIIO &e for tho correct rantilatioa. unrenti1nt.d u a a a t TA-9, ha8 lxlv boon mmod and iartillwi i n &n exhaust hood. The mmrcury still, for8orly located i n an operations irnolring luge tanka of to lu on, mmthaml, and trichloroethylene.

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-ling unit8 were shipped t o the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation in Ft. Worth, TOXM, for thoir ime dirt r use until they can obtain mom satisfactory a t 8 of thofr OM. activities of the University of California a t Borkeloy, d8visit vas mads t o the Wevuia Roving Grounds t o observe activities prior to the first shut. The Croup Mer spent two drys a t Oak Ridge Rational Laboratory reeing the health work i n the Y-12 ueta and also atterded the meeting of the Coma c ft tm to rolect recipients of UZI ll dust rid Hygiene FeUow8hips.

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Uator suplea coll oct ~ d Bor y lli upr Tritium in water Col. Spohn and MnJ. Peuguden are on duty at the Nevada Proving Grounds. No reports vill be d e by the btoorology Section until thoir return. U il liam de Alva uaa a t NE bch 12 to kch 20.

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dovdopunt hr haq dod to iaeludo the urn of Chua8t & ? l8tiC rdiationr for of rprpchrovtic radiation among avrilablo i8otop.r (BOO progrou roport for prwiow nmth)f ii lod toy idd satisfactory sources Vith ea agi or K-radiation which csn bo obtairwd by placing suitable radiators in the beam of kwi dosigmd aad will be built. seam, but Prodifid a8 required by the obj rct l ver of tho kEt program. For thir puqmro, a fluoremeewe sensitometer has b. T b fila badge develop ant proem bas mado lSCO8rWy tho available in pub33rb.d luturiil. This situation has kon wt br intarpolating for & but 10 elements between the 19 for uhich c3cu laW vil u es are given i n NBS Report 1003. Charts of "true" absorption coefficients inthe range 10 t o Kev photon energy have been prepared. Since there r p p u t o be aome rod FrregUluitlerr i n the variation of the photo-olsctric abmrptton coef Zicient uith atomic number, the intrrpolatod vil u es are probably not ar reliable am laborious theoretical computations. C. Construction of the d.A chapter on survey instruments 81x3pocket dori wt ers is king propard for the forthcoming book "Handbook o f Radiation Dosimetry." a. A form vas prop ard for the use of shipment security per801UMl The form uasvhm accidents OCCUT while radioactive materid is being shipp d.

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b. An faformtion card is in prop u ation for the u u of nrintmuwr tho typ.8 of r.di ation to be found a t vruiou8 loc at iom in tho project, probatira y.ntr.. rrquird ud uhom to conkct when there i r raq quortion &bout c. Ome again, assistance ha8 k e n given t o tbe Rui-Slfe group of the darkroom .nd phptomtric o quip nt ; imt ruc tion was dro given inthe The p rrr on ml of the Group vere inetructod in the use a d nuintenaxme Tho plan to provide partial monitoring service t o J-Division per rom l caused abandoment of the plan. monitoring service for most of the Weepons Development Group Projectsr par so ml could be provided by six people, ard that Ii-Division could provide the nec es su ~ A refurel of this aor ~ i c oby the Test Rad-We Unit The plan did indicate that the l?8C088Ery problems expected if massive gamma dose experiments are carried out inthe Medical Re8eUCh Laboratory area. The derivation o f the integrated dose formula fcr personnel expo ad to residual fission product radiaticn, fall wing a bomb detonation, was Witten up for dia tri but ion to those interested. A report is being uri tten on measurslacnts of radiation encountered bY cloud srmpliry sircraft crews during Operation Tumbler-Snapper .

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trail- facilitior for -0 in Operation Castle u e king made. the pro8ont coaerptr of the operation, the trailer m y have t o curp pra c tidy dl of tho photodorimetry work load. …