H Division Progress Report (January 21 - February 20, 1962) (Redacted)

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Tt n lunar rocket Ranger 3 was launched from Cape Curavetal the lunar surface. Among the instru?bents carried in this vehicle W.8 agama - ray scintillation apectronrster which was dasiqrecd and developed by members of the Ph y dc8 and Health Division8 of this laboratory at the request of NASA. that this instrument, by observing the qamna-ray spectrum of thc lunar surface during the final minuter: before impact. could provide definitive information which would help determine whether or not the.roon Was a t one time a solid molten mas8 o r whether it wa8 formed by the agglomeration o f many small particles in space. There uas every reiBon to feel As is IIQW well kno m,I anger3 missed hitting the moon by aoms 20.000 milea. The Lor Alam or spectrometer while obviously unable to accomplish it8 primary mission,did in truth function as planned and providcd new and valuable information about the radi a - tion r in outer space. The detector itself consists of a3x3 in. CsI - plastic scintilla tor phoewlch connected co a 32-channel pulse height ana- ! 0.66 Hev i u about 12 par cent. The spectrometer, and indeed the pulmes caurscd by primary cosmic-ray protons. Eq pt gy res alu tic nat entire spacecraft, must k biologically sterile in compliance with

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(80 that th, high radiation levels in the Van Allen belt8 would Thr s pct router pauar was turrwd on 4 hours after launch not sw up the mpectronwtar), and tele uteri n q of 8wCtX. back t o earch kgan. tach spectrum re pra sent a 7.67 minuter of counting tim, alternately in calibration and signal node. -1- hours after launch boom r xt an rion occurred,placing the detector6 feet from the main structure of the spacecraft(to minimize effects of cosmic-ray induced aec on dari er). way t o the moon's vicinity. southern California, South Africa, and Aur tr alia : a t the present writing, only a fraction of the data ha8 been decoded and is i n moon to detect lunar gw la rays,the data received eo far ahow that the mpectromtter system was working ~ - 1 1 and survived the rigor6 of launch and space environrmnt. In addition, we now know what the backqround spectrum i n apace i 8 like: this is due t o the rp acc craft itself and possibly to gam8 and x radiations from the sun and galaxy. Spectra were received all tho The receiving rt ation rare located in U though the spacecraft wa8 nevtr xear enough t o the The data are now beLnq acudied to disentangle Rangers 4 and 5 with rim i lar mismiona and similar in r tru - ment ation art expected t o be launched during 1962 and it is hoped that on these occasions the aim will be a little better. ADDliCEtiOn of whole Body Countina to Di 8QnO stick dm A new, simplified procedure has been developed for diagnosing p crni cio u a anemia by means of vhole-body counting. his technique makes repeated blood sampling and collection of urine and feccm unncceamary: it requires only1 minute of physician time, 2 minutes of technician time, and about 5 minutes of aimpla arlth - o f an oral dose of Co6'-labeled Vitamin B12 by whole-body counting This method con r fats merely of determining the retention

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. the mubject for 200 mconds 1 wek after administration of the Schilling toot,8 Large do.. of Vitamin B12 is not waded, and the haatologic ch8ngrm of t h e dimrase a r e not obscured by the test itI n contrast to the premently popular but difficult s if i cant reduction (10 times) i n dose of co60 g-a radiation reThe great sensitivity of Hmco I and HVIWo 11 allows a siq- $ Miwd by the patient. Carl Buckland participated in a fallout panel discussion given at Las Veqas , New Mexico, on January 26th. Donald McKnown spent the month a t NTS as Rad-Safe adviser to the Test Director in Area 3. The H - 1 Group h i d e r accompanied the New Mexico Public Hoalth Department during an in r pact ton of the new Santa Fc laundry for proccsaing contaminated clothing.

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9.. An unu8ual film badge reading was encountered during the r g-. Upon invemtiqation, it was determined t h a t tho cmploy~A worked (1) with I mall diffraction x-ray unit(m uci mun energy - $0 kev), (2) preparing r ~ ple sof irradiated XIWI materials fcr The working area urd x-ray machine -re monitored, and no radi at 80iirce w m found which could account for the film badye exposurc. Fiin badge8 have ken planted inthe working area, and the man t waaring a pocket dosimeter. quarterly limit, it was below 5.9 rem and is not report able. While the total dasc exceeded the A U233 foil ruptured during an experiment inthe Physics Building. The resulting contamination vas contained, and again pre planning proved valuable. Three Navajo trailers =re contaminated from leaking drums during the transportation of contaminated waste frm. kndix, and ra leased to the trucking company. Work vith hi y h n.g.o. plutonium was started at DP w0.t dur - .ing the month. The operating group has reduced the external radiation dose ratr by using shielding, lead glans drybox windok and drybox gloves impregnated with lead. So far, the operator : exposure h a s not been nigh. An Air Force photodori,nctrv trailer was prepared for ship - xunt to the Pacific Area. This involved equipping, cleaning, checking the processing tanks, and testing the densitometer. provided H-1 will organize the AEC records. The records are ncr arranqad correctly by 2-number or alphabetical xd cr. One persc has been assigned to this project full - time. and several others

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h8ve k e n working on it on an overtint haSiB. Reduction of the data taken at the big Van de Graaff with the Rurat Proportional Neutron Counter 18 undervay. Initial roSUltB (Actual her by in Calm 11) Calculated with HPC* The calibration results of thc sphere counter (neutron) a t : thm big Van de Graaff indicate that the 10 inch aphare q ives L re8ponre proportional to the dose within i15% for noutron energies tof 0.2hvto8.0 Ma--. A calibration with thermal neutron8 at the I water boiler reactor indicates the 10 inch sphere has a response proportional to the thermal dose rate within tl5%. The intermediate enorgy rerponsc is high, and work is continuing on thio problem. A. Accidr n t Record Jan. 1. 1962 to Fcb. 1, 1962 L'61 Number of Disabling Injuries3 16 Number of Days last 51 18,733 So verity (Day# Lost per 1,000,000 Manhours) 99 2,822 1. On February 15, 1962, -of ENG-4 8u ffe red a pain i n the right groin as he lifted aome t quip nen to ffa truck. Dr. Plynn diagnosed the injury as hernia and -went t o see Dr. Dotron. There is n o time charge for this injury so far.

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Tharo war. no fires at tho Laboratory during this report On January 5 , 1962 a Cover run ent - m d 195L International van w8l driven into a roof extension as the driver iouqht t o avoid a 1. a) i s now re cup rating at home. t) J. R. Penland wasat the Nevada Test Site from Jurriary 15 u r ? til rob rua ry2. c) W. C. Court right arrived at the Nevada Teat Site was given t o ENG-2 and EMG-4 at their combined safety mooting. A revised Procedure for Connecting and Disconnecting Tube Trailers was issued to holders of the Compressed Gas Systems Uanual and Rover Safety Manual. 2. A talk on electrical e quim nt for hazardous locations 4 . Report of November 7 , 1961 Nevada Test Site explosions which li at a the items which are accomplished and those which vi11 k done to prevent the recurrence of a gaseous hydrogen explosion. 6 . First Aid Kits were i5ssc.d for placement inoff - aite 'I; QU8rte rly reports were sent t o the varioua Divisions, fwith comments on their safety proytms.

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8.A procedure was verbally worked out with Sandfa whereshorted by Sur dia by avi rib le device. 9. A survey of hater ; ,in HE mtorage or processing build10. Reviewe of GUX-Division SOP'. are continufng. 12. General Health w d Sa€cty Considerations for Pacific Testing and inspecting of hoists by the Engineering h put nun tim being extended to vehicle mounted devices. sites was prepared and issued. 13. Electrical Safety recommcndatiuns for trailers king moved to Pacific locations vas prepared and distributed. 14. Trailers moving t o thc Pacific vcrc inspected. 15. The following films were shown during this report period: High School students visited the Laboratory as part of Edison Day recognition. Their tour route8 were reviewed. 17. Installation of grounding adapters for 2-prong rece pta cles was reviewed and a letter was written to the Engineering Department authorizing their use. 18. A meeting of the Liquid Hydrogen Safety Con mitt ce vas held on February 5 . the cemittec thought would make the operation safe, war approved. Valves on the LH dmwars atTest Cell A have A procedure for storage and flowing of LH2 ' which A. Evaluat ion and Control Work A total of 00 air samples, 50 swipe samples, and 4 soil

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8un ple s were collected a top a rations involving kryl li w. Control Shop, 1-3, W - 5 and f o i l work by P-4. W. have continued air sampling in the exhaust rtack and in the breath in q zone of operators working in test cell No. 1at ing zona air samples were above the LASL tolerance level. mendations hava ken made t a reduce the mount of airborne activity. A tot81 of 43air ramples were collected. In Shop 15. we are continuing our s mp ling with tv o - stage cy c lb nes to characterize the particle size of the dust to which the operators are exposed. In addition, sampler are collected with the p8rs on al Lapel sampler. Results to date indicate that the breath - ing zone concentration,as measured by the Lapel sampler, is approximataly three t irma higher than the continuous air sun p ler operated adjacent to the operation.i Routine air sampling was cart ii d out for carbon tetraand trich l oro ethylene at CMB-6 while cleaning uranium foil. Weare continuincl to cd lect fallout samples on a weekly basis. Levclr of zi r born c fallout are insignificant. Analysin of milk sampler for Iodine showed no e ign if i cant levels of Iodine i n local milk a t any time. The qroup was again called upon to make numerous noise studi er during this period. Electroplating Sections and the Graphite Shop in thc New Siw3 Surveys were made in the Ceramics and

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I :. Building. The noiae level in three laboratories was found eo be above 8 5 db. Ragular audioqramm were racorwnded for there pert ' . ronnel. k, 8tt OR pt will be made to reduce the noise level in tho i three laboratories in the near future. A confarence was held to review the perchloric acid hood6 €or the N e w Wamte Dirporal Laboratory. Recommendations were made that all work with perchloric acid in the hoods uill be limited to individual systems that will capture and remove the fume8 befora they are 8xh8usted into the ducts. Ventilation surveys were made in Building 1 used by GMX-8, Building 306 at S - S i t e , new hood installed in Glass Shop and a new Ventilation studies and recommendations were wade for the control of .-.anrichad uranium in Building 31, Buildinq 1 and Test A conference was held to review Group W-7 exhaulrt stack rtack at this site. Recownendationo were made to install an additional 1Lo plan5 for exhaust ventilation were apprnved during Wc completed the inspection of all emergency respiratory protective devices and issued a n e w Location list for such devices on February 1. W e are currently designing and assembling a test bench to test all Scott Air Paks. During this period, a total of 46 people were fitted with respirators and full face marks. Supplied air marks and blowers were supplied to two areas for spray paintina and foam plastic

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We are currently inspecting a11 half mask rer pira tors that have ken cleaned and distributed by the kundry. To date. this in r pec tion reveals k tv men5 and 10 per Cant of the device8 are &fective and should be discarded. i n four uark areas. Inspections have hen ma& Work is In progress on ion exchange studies With alea6pig and the scale r for the single churn el gama counter. actinide elen unt s,witha view towards simplify in - and irnprovemtent of the present reparation method for plutonium. 3. The laboratory and field rt ct ions are engaged i n an organirod progrun to investigate the presence of toxic material r in proprietor y products carried in stock. 4. A portable tritium apparatus waa arsefnbled for H-1 and a representative war trained in the ume of the unit. 5. Work on particle size and calibration of two-stage air samplers is continuing. C. Mis cell aneous We are continuing to make nd uv trial hygiene inspections throughout the laboratory. During this period, in spc tion m have Dr. Leslie Silverman. consultant to the Xealth Divi a ion, spc nt throe days with the group. X-DO personnel on UHlREX and the core test facility. aul ted on many installations and air cleaning projects throughout Dr. Silverman conferred with During this period, Ucrrrr. James Morehead, Ncr ell E. Bolton, Denton Gary, and E r n e s t Bentley from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 Plant visited the group to di scurr our re8-

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pir at or program. Also hssra. Murphy, LaTorre, Oreenspan, and bonard from the Watertown Arsenal, visited Lor Alums to consult spent several days with the group as a trainee i n Health Physics. The group made (r survey of the m L Building fallout shelter regarding a proposed new facility € o r Group H-5. the group viti ted the Lovelacc Clinic to study laboratory method8 and particle mite work conducted by them. We conferred with representatives of Engineering Division A conference WaS held with re pte rent at ives of the engineering Division and tht Safety Group to devise a method t o remove par - chlorates from some of the exhaust ducts in HRL Building. The group leader gave atalk on fallout in tat4 Vegas, One member of the field section spent two weeks in Cincinnati taking an i n - service training course in industrial hygiene engineerTvo limited eq res rins pet ions wr% made; equipment and rss i at ance vas given t o Group P - …