decontaminate the vessels.
By 10 August, upon the advice of the Chief of the
Radiological Safety Division, the Task Force Commander decided to terminate
these efforts and tow most of the remaining target fleet to Kwajalein Atoll
for possible decontamination (3: 2).
In the latter half of August 1946, the surviving target ships were towed
or sailed to Kwajalein Atoll.
Eight of the major ships and two submarines
were towed back to the U.S. for radiological inspection.
Twelve target ships
were so lightly contaminated that their crews remanned them and sailed them
back to the United States.
The remaining target ships were destroyed by
sinking off Bikini Atoll, off Kwajalein Atoll, or near the Hawaiian Islands
during 1946-1948.
The support ships were decontaminated as necessary at U.S.
Navy shipyards, primarily in San Francisco and in Bremerton, Washington (3: 2).
4.2.3
Dose Summary for CROSSROADS.
CROSSROADS operations were undertaken under radiological supervision ,
intended to keep personnel doses below 0.1 rem of gamma radiation per day.
About 15 percent of the participants were issued film badges.
Personnel
anticipated to have the most potential for exposure were badged, and a
percentage of each group working in less radioactive areas were badged
(3: 2,3).
Because radiation dose data are not complete, reconstructions have been
made of personnel doses for unbadged crewmembers of the ships involved.
The
calculations relied upon the radiation measurements recorded by radiation
safety personnel in 1946 and used the types of methods discussed in chapter 7.
The table below summarizes the available dosimetry information:
Summary of External Doses for Operation CROSSROADS
as of 1 May 1986
Gamma Dose (rem)
0-0.5
0.5-1
1-3
3-5
5-10
Army
3,250
25
15
10
0
Navy
28 , 436
4,883
2,939
4
0
550
0
0
0
0
Marine Corps
77
10+
0