Radiation Exposure Received During Return to Base
Although the above illustrated that fighter-type aircraft were capable
of collecting the desired samples from two explosions within the acceptable
limit for the in-cloud radiation exposure, a complete estimate of capability
included additional exposure received while the aircraft was returning to
base,

During the flight through a cloud some of the radioactive debris

| adhered to the exterior surfaces of the sampling aircraft,

As a result a

radiation flux or "cockpit" radiation background existed within the interior
of a sampling aircraft after its departure from the cloud,
to base the pilot received additional radiation exposure,

While returning
Since this

exposure decreased that which was available for collecting a sample, it was
important to understand what factor contributed to it and to be able to

estimate what increases over the in-cloud exposure project personnel might
expect under operational conditions,

Such an increase was especially

significant when the in-cloud exposure was required to be high and the
time to return to base of long duration. ©
To Los Alamos scientists the retention of radioactive material on the
surface of the aircraft appeared to depend markedly upon the location of

the surface, its state of cleanliness, the mode of airflow over it, and
the state of aggregation of the contaminating radioactive debris,

While the

phenomena involved in the retention of the material were somewhat complex,.
all of the surfaces taken together were considered as a collector similar

to the filter devices carried by the aircraft.

For short flight times in

the cloud, therefore, the amount of material adhering after a single cloud
penetration was determined by an equation similar to that used for
211

AFWL/KG

SWEH-2-003h

2°

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