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INTRODUCTION
Operation CASTLE was a series of atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by the
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) at the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) during the
Spring of 1954. Radiological safety procedures included the issuance of film badges to
approximately 10 percent of the personnel throughout the operation and to individuals
during periods of potentially significant radiation exposure.
Cohort badging, i.e., one
badge worn by one individual in a group, was the primary means of determining
individual exposures. Recorded dosimetry data and medical record data for personnel
aboard most of the ships involved in the operation are sufficient to accurately
determine their radiation exposure.
There were, however, sixteen ships involved
{either directly or indirectly) for which available dosimetry data are insufficient to
assess the exposures of crew members assigned to them.
Consequently, where fiJm
badge coverage is incomplete, it is necessary to reconstruct the radiation dose.
This
report describes the operation, the radiological situation, and the time-space relationships of each ship with respect to the radiological environment.
The results are
portrayed as equivalent film badge doses for the crews of each of the 16 vessels of
interest.
,
Because some personnel of the naval contingent were assigned to the residence
islands of Enewetak and Kwajalein Atolls, the radiation environments on both atolls
are also reconstructed.
Plans had also called for the use of the residence islands of
Bikini Atoll (Eneman and Eneu Islands), but heavy contamination following the first
shot
(BRAVO)
required a
conversion
from
land-based
to
ship-based operations.
Personnel could go ashore on Bikini only for short periods of time and then, only when
accompanied by a trained*rad-safe monitor (Reference 1). Film badges were generally
issued to personnel going ashore and exposures are documented.
Because of this, the
reconstruction of the Bikini radiation environments are not addressed in this report.
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BACKGROUND
There were six shots in the CASTLE test series:
UNION, YANKEE, and NECTAR.
BRAVO, ROMEO, KOON,
The first five were detonated on Bikini Atoll and