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RMOLATION LATORATORY
BERKEUEY 4, CALIFOMNIA
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31 Decomber 1946
402611 —
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Colonel K. D, Nichols
From:
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dosoph G, Hamilton, M. D. -
Subject:
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RADIOACTIVE WARFARE
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BEST COPY AVAILABLE
The use of fisston products as a military agent presents a
number ofvornovel considerationa whioh distinguish this potontial
weopon from chomical tools of war, such as mustord gos, Llewisite, phos-
gone, ot cetera. Tho nojor
poisons may bo divided into
‘the quantity of radioactiva
. be monsured in tho range of
differonoes botween chomical and radioactive
tho following principal ootegories. One;
poison required to produce lethal offeots can
micrograms while in the oaso.of chemical agents,
thore is usually roquirod tons to hundrods of milligrams to produce ,comparable
biological damage. ‘Iwo; it is Ampossible to detoct the prasence- of radionotive poisons without the aid of suitable eloctrical dovicos such as
Geicgor counters, ionization. chamvers, electroscopes, et ostora,
In other
words, the radintion from rediosotivo materials oannot be detectod by touch,
smoll, taste, ot cetora. Three; the biological damage produced by suoh
rodiatdons has o high degree of latensy in that even with lethal dosages,
the full effeots may not appear for intorvals oxtending from days to the
ordor of sevoral months. In addition, complote rocovory from sub-lothal
‘injury moy not oscur in a considorable portion of individuals exposed
end this factor of ohronio injury may be expected to ooour in a mech
higher prorortion of subjeots then might ba oxpectsd from sub-lethal ohemical injuries from most, if not.all, of the known war goses. Four; radioactive poisons may persist in an infected rogion for oxtremoly
long
periods of time, if tho matorial injected has a sufficiontly lonz halflife. Five; removal of radioactive matorials once they havo become deposited on soils, buildings, roads, et cetcra, will bo in :sost instanaes so
‘difficult that for all intenta and purposes, decontamination may be considsred a1 almost insurmountable problen.
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The fission products oan be employed either against persomol,
both civilian and military, or they may.bo used to impair if not destroy
the use of agricultural areas for the purpose of producing food orops.
Those matarials can produce injurf to man, as well as animals. Injury
oan arise from several different mechanisms, nanoly, inhalation, ingostion,
and extornal irradiotion. Following adsorption into the body the majority
of the longer-livod fission products, whose half-lives oxtend from tho ordor
of two weeks to meny years, are acounuloted and tenaciously rotained in the
skeleton. There, they produce intemal irradiation of the very sonsitive
bone marrow and even rather trivial amowmts o5a peoduse lethal of foots.
Tho inhalation of finely suspended partioles suc:. as dust.or smoke, ocontaining o mixture of the longer-livod fission products is attonuded by a
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