the bag to capacity (15 cu ft at sampling altitude) in about 12 seconds
at which time the expanded sides of the bag pressed against an electric

switch closing the bag valve.

On landing, the air in the bag was pumped

through a particulate filter into a cylinder, leaving the radioactive

contaminant adhering to the inside of the bag or to the filter material.

It was determined that the R factors obtained were normal, and
that the two decay slopes measured (-2.08 and -2.35) were relatively

higher than decay slopes determined for samples obtained from other opera-~

tions and by other sampling methods. Activity levels of samples obtained in
these tests were too low to provide more than limited data.
The low readings
were attributed both to the fact that aircraft speed was such that the plane
flew well beyond the sampling zone by the time the bag was filled and to the

ier,

considerable decay occurring during the 45 hr required to ship the samples
to the counting laboratory.
The final report of this work appeared as CRLR-197, and WT-617.

CRIR - 109

-

RESULTS OF CHEMICAL CORPS CHEMICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES
PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION THUNDERCLOUD.
(Part of JANGLE, wT-401)

John R. Hendrickson and Robert L. Hanzel, 24 November 1952.
SECRET-RESTRICTED DATA’
”
Three investigations are described in this report:

(1) the

shielding afforded by a medium tank and a personnel carrier against the

radioactivity resulting from an aerial atomic blast, (2) the evaluation of
filter efficiency of a tank collective protector, and (3) a determination

c

tion

of the extent to which clothing is contaminated when worn by men marching
within 500 yd of ground zero shortly after the blast.

Film badges indicated 94% to 99% lower dosage inside the tank than

outside, and similar readings inside the personnel carrier showed 95% shielding by this vehicle.
Filter efficiency of the tank collective protector
was found to be very high, with negligible radioactivity penetrating the
type 6 filter material.
No problem was presented by contamination of either

impregneted or unimpregnated clothing worn near ground zero at H + 4 hr.

Shoes showed the highest contamination, approximately 2 to 3 times background.

Select target paragraph3