Chopter 4
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DEEP -MOORED INSTRUMENT STATIONS
This chapter is restricted to a report on a methodology of some significance in future Planning
The results as pertain to surveyof fallout are reported elsewhere by Project 2.63, as well as
in Chapter 2 of this report.
4.1 OBJECTIVES
The objective of the deep-moored instrument stations was to provide a number of instrument
platforms in fixed geographical position for the determination of areal distribution of and for
sampling fission products.
eration.
It was planned that these moorings should last the length of the op.
In conjunction with providing a moored instrument platform and appurtenances for in.
stallation, it was necessary to develop gear capable of récovering the instrumented skiffs in a
minimum amount of time after each shot.
The principal instrumentation installed on these stations for determining areal distribution
of fallout was the responsibility of Project 2.63 and is covered in Reference 7. In addition, the
results of the penetration meters that were installed on several of the skiffs by Project 2.62 has
been presented in Chapter 2 of this report.
Figure 4.1 shows the location of instruments and
collectors that were mounted on the moored skiff.
4.2 BACKGROUND
Determination of the areal distribution of fission products from nuclear devices tested in the
EPG has always been hamperedby the absence of land masses to act as, or to support, collecting
stations. Moored collection stations in the lagoon have been a part of each series beginning
with Operation Crossroads, but these, together with reef and island stations, have been inadequate to give more than meager close-in and “upwind” coverage for detonations of multimegaton
range. In addition, the use of the ocean surface itself, as a collector, is subject to manydifficulties, and the fallout material undergoes a number of alterations of form and distribution in the
sea prior to the time that survey ships or aircraft can be brought in. Manned, shielded ships
constitute floating laboratories that can be placed directly under the fallout, but these can by no
means provide the areal coverage necessary to explore the distribution of particles in the fallout
area,
The requirement for additional, more-numerous, and less-complex collecting platforms has
long been recognized. It has been considered that these would be most useful in the moderately
close-in range, where the coarser particles fall. Here the survey vessel is limited by the rapid
penetration of the particles through the surface layers of the sea.
,
During Operation Castle, Project 2.5a attempted to use free-floating buoys as collectors and
telemetering stations (Reference 10).
It was attempted to lay these in the days prior to the deto-
nation in such a way that they would float into position and cover the desired area at shot time.
Aside from its being greatly influenced by the complexity of the currents in the area, this system
also committed the project to recover and re-lay the buoys following any postponement. Thus,
this vigorous approach to the problem met with limited success.
It was apparent that if platforms could be moored in the area, many of the problems could be
obviated. This would require mooring surface platforms in water as deep as 2,500 fathoms in
the region of Bikini Atoll.
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