RENEE ae penn teeny ean TION Ose SEENES Pamroce wee nt nee renceinnsateen peed rangeerteee. name te SS rite “ee cower CAaeneeees ET ee on samt - ne eae. 2 acet Chapter i History 1.1 INTRODUCTION In January 1949 Alvin C. Graves, Scientific Director, asked Brig Gen James P. Cooney (MC, USA) to command the radiological safety organization of the Scientific Task Group (TG 3.1) in proposed atomic weapon tests at Eniwetok. Gen Cooney was subsequently ordered to command Task Unit 3.1.5 (TU 3.1.5) and to act as Special Assistant for Radiological Safety on the staff of the Commander, Joint Task Force Three (CJTF-3). The radiological safety policy and organization as planned for Operation Greenhouse were based to a large extent upon the experience gained at Alamogordo, Operation Crossroads, and Operation Sandstone. In the basic plan of organization the task force was divided into four task groups: Scientific (TG 3.1), Army (TG 3.2), Navy (TG 3.3), and Air Force (TG 3.4), Each was to have its own radiological safety organization, personnel, and instruments, and certain laboratory functions were to be supplied all taek groups by TU 3.1.5. The radiological problem divided itself into four phases: a. Pretest phase-— evaluation of the radiation hazards remaining on Operation Sandstone shot islands. b. Planning phase— organizational planning of TU 3.1.5 for Operation Greenhouse. c. Test phase — evaluation of and protection from radiation, blast, and thermal] hazards during the detonation; evaluation of and protection from radiation hazards after detonation. d. Final phase or résumé —evaluation of radiological safety operations during Operation Greenhouse. 1.2 PRETEST PHASE Gen Cooney, assisted by Karl Z. Morgan, Oak Ridge, Carl C. Gamertsfelder, Hanford, Harry O. Whipple, Los Alamos, and Charles D. Blackwell, Los Alamos, made several trips to Eniwetok Atoll to supervise decontamination and preparation of the test islands for Operation Greenhouse. Permissible levels of radioactivity were exceeded in only limited areas of some Greenhouse test islands. These areas were those surrounding tower sites for Operation Sandstone tests. It was considered advisable to avoid any possible overexposure to radiation, and therefore work was performed to decontaminate the areas where the radiation level was greater than tolerance. Decontamination was effected by bull- dozing the top (heaviest contaminated) layer of earth into the crater and covering it with uncontaminated soil. Hazards from radioactive dusts were avoided by wetting the soil thoroughly before bulldozing. After the decontamination activities, Thomas N. White, Los Alamos, made the final survey of the entire Atoll during the period 5 to 11 May 1950. He concluded that there was no possibility of overexposure to gammaradiation on any of the islands of Eniwetok Atoll and that this condition would hold true up to the time of the next tests on the atoll islands. It was decided, therefore, to discontinue the use of film badges on all islands and to terminate the full-time position of radiological safety