$.1.$ Combined Cloud and Fallout Data. ¥ alternative Processes to fallout are not import

fission
products with volatile predecessors can be os useful as gaseous fission products for
measuring the extent cf fallout. Because it ta incorrect to assume that the ne

content of a volatile
fission product in fallout is zero, the R-value in faliout must be measured
Then:

y= RYeg - (RU) £0
.

[R* (Ye —

fre (Y)) FO

This formula can be derived by algebraic operations from the definitions
of the R-values
.
(Appendix E). If, despite the fact that it is incorrect, the R-value for Y tn fallout
is assumed

to be zero, the above equation reduces to the expression for a gas, and y becomes the upper

limiting value for the fraction of Mo”(or refractory debris) left in the region sampled
Fission products such as Sr™, Ca¥’, and to a somewhat lesser extent Sr® appear to behave
very muchlike Kr" in Shots Koa, Walnut, and Oak and may be used to estimate fractional fall.

out of refractory debris or upper limits to the fraction remaining aloft.

The disadvantage of using Sr"? or Cs! for this purpose Is that R-values must be measured

in fallout and are necessarily constant. The chief advantage ia that the analyses may be extended to longer times, because the half-lives are long and a sufficient sample may be obtained
by almply filtering more air.
Values have been calculated in the above manner and are given in Table 3.7.

In calculating the values for fraction of Mo™ in the cloud, the data must be picked from

Tables B.1 through B.6 with care. Only cloud samples taken in the light and variable layers
are used, and these are matchedon an indivudual basis with height line samples taken at a later

time, wherever possible.

The half-lives of the noble-gas precursors of the nuclides used above are: Cs'*’, 3.8 minutes;
Sr**, 3.2 minutes; Sr™, 33 seconds; Y"!, 10 seconds; Ce“, ~1 second; Cs’, none. The frac-

tion of Mo™ remaining in the cloud as calculated by each of these nuclides generally increases
inversely as the half-life of the nuciide’s noble-gas precursor. [If it is assumed that the Rvalues in the height line samples are representative of the material that has fallen from the
light and variable layer, the results of the calculation of the fraction of Mo" remaining in the

cloud may be interpreted to mean that the original R-values in the light and variable layer were
not representative of the device. This is due to the fact that if the original R-values were

representative and if the average R-value is used for all the fallout, the fraction of Mo’ calcu-

lated to remain in the cloud (y) should be the same no matter which radionuclide is used in the
calculation.

However, the same experimental data could have been obtained if the eampled region origin-

ally had representative R-values, provided the R-values from the height line samples were not
representative of all the fallout from the light and variable layer. The assumption here is that
the unsampled portion of the fallout, i.@., the portion between 1,000 and 50,000 feet, had Rvalues between those found in the fallout and in the cloud. The explanation of such behavior
might be that nuclides that condense shortly after the explosion occur in larger particles than
nuclides that condense later, e.g., those with noble-gas precursors. The larger particles fall
faster, are depleted in the cloud samples, and are enriched in theheight line samples. The opposite situation would exist for small particles. The actual explanation of the variation in the

calculated fraction of Mo" remaining in the cloud may well be 2 combination of the two given above.
Smail variations, such as those due to experimenta. uncertainties in the R-values, have

large effects on the calculation when the differences between the device R-values and those

observed in the cloud and fallout are small. The Mo’fractions calculated from Cs‘’" and Sr,

the two nuclides having the longest-lived noble-gas precursors and showing the greatest fractionation, are given in Table 3.8. They are compared to the Mo” fractiona calculated from

Kr®?,

39

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