+ ere
geet
3
aes
4:
=
=a
Fractionation of Radiostrontium in Bomb Debris
The two radioisotopes of strontium, Sr°9 am sr?are chiefly farmed by
the decay of primary fission produsts according to the schemes,
+.
i:
Ir 90
iB
wh
set:
—
i$
rm
=
443
ae
ELE
tT
tt
cee
Ty
iid.
b
Rb90
rS9
neo?
256
5a”
cy!
it
UNCLASSIGSED
4
Sr 90
ig
i
Short
“Ete”
‘
ot
25
“TES58d
It is therefore possible that the bulk of the radiostrontium
uot be
% of
produced umtil the fireball has cooled below the solidifying p
the fallout debris. If this is true, the relative amount of
or 890
in the close-in fallout should not be as great as would be predicted
from fission yields, and should also be quite sarah les This
Hea been
confirmed by measurements mide by AFOAT-1 (Sr5?
most of the results of our own analyses.
/Mo”"
ratios#
and by
The extreme variability of our initial radiostrontium results Por fallout samples led us to question the precision of ow ohemical
mpthods.
As a test, three samples of firely powders4 Jangleite were
by the
same chemical procedure. The relative Sr°™
activity was found to be
2.6, 2,1 and 2.1%, compared with the theoretical value of 5,
Teak abt
of
OF
.
Lf
aticrt ated.
te oe ee ge
He
¥
This discrepancy may be possibly accounted for by considering
tl
hd
The fallout samples run for radiostrontius were taken fran
decey samples frow Tumbler-Snapper, Ivy and Upshot-Knothole.
ith
Ballou are given in Tables 4-6.
[hy
t+ some
of the initial activity me induced, rather than fission prodwot activity.
In any case, the precision of measurement is reascoable and
igdicates
that the wariadility of fallout radiostrontiiwm is real.
stock of
[These re-
sults, along with the theoretical radiostrontium va luss from Bunter and
Table 4
TUMBLER“SNAPPER PALLOUT
rne
Location
Hanksville, U0
Date
Initial d/e
5/26/52
137
sr®990 4,
9.6
108
74
106
114
120
Be
9.
16
12.
5.
Average
Theoretical
7.0
8.1
12.7
18.1
10.5
4.8
9.7
8.0
-19=
—E=—
00131986 022
1097051