SEE
UNCLASSIFIE
ate, ONLY One sample frow 1000 cubic meters of air at 88,000feet
“3 obtained. Sampling was prevented by mechanical failures in two ot
Flights were made from Holloman AFB, New Mexico.
gent
sampling Results
The results of atmospheric sampling to date are given in Table HL.
be noted that except for two of the four jet aircraft flights,
“:
oe concentrations reported are remarkably uniforn.
ny value of 0.06 d/min/w? from the single 68,000 ft. sample compares fiver
ath the Samples collected at roof level (mean 0.08 d/m/M>, range .Ol-.)2 d/a/),
pglecting the two
yrevage
07 d/ain/
values from the jet flights, the remaining two
e
hc offer no conclusive explanation for the two high pairs among the
collected by Jet aircraft. One might speculate thatbecsuse these to
spe characterised by somewhat higher 89 to 90 ratios (Table 12). that
ge dominated by debris from the USSE detonations in mid-August. Ho
1p ot too plausible an explanation in view of the fact that the first
vas collected shortly after the Russian thermonuclear detonation and t
second high sample about four months later.
Relation of aes Samples to the Residual
ctivity
[rom
If the fission Field of MIKE was
3x
6x 102
curies of which the Sr”
curies.
blanket of air
MT, the residual activity at this
component is approximately 2.4, or
this activity were uniformly distributed throughoug
the
feet in thickness (volume = 5.4 x 10°9¢t3.) the condentration
of fission product activity would be 6 d/min/W.
would be 0.8 d/min/w,
‘The concentration of [$r70
Neglecting the two high values for the moment, the data suggest that
‘rather uniform dispersion (06 d/min/M>) of fission products in the itmosphere
wf to about 100,000 feet. This is equivalent to about 1f of the residsal
tivity from MIKE. In eddition, there are an undetermined oumber of
io “slugs® which to date have been observed only in the region of the
The sr°9-90 content of these samples is given in Table 12, It will
‘hat these isotopes are present in all samples in mounts that exceed
Trerable factor the percentages predicted theoretically in debris
YY, UPSHCT-KNOTHOLE or the recent USSE series. Only the samples co
¥ jet aircraft have been analysed for Sr9O to date. If these samples]
are
*presentative, this isotope represents about 10K of the total activity, about
is ‘ines the expected percentage, if the debris is dus to MIKE.
; of the Sr90 yield from
‘he atmosphere,
is estimated to be stored in the lower
60131986.037
105 70bb