July 1944 in
the percent of laboratories in June and
by swipes)
which radioactivity levels (as measured
were
above
5000 counts per minute or were between
500 and 500Q
counts per minute.
high nose councs
Table II shows the
Cover 50 counts per minute)
of
three chemists in the Recovery Group (other nose
counts of these men not included were consistently
positive but below 50 counts per minute).
In April
This group was charged with the following responsibilities:
plutonium which had been either left behind in any
of the experimental or operational procedures or
spilled accidentally or lost as contamination, and
(b}) converting the recovered plutonium to the +4
valence state suitable for fluorination and subsequent reduction to plutonium metal.
In 1944, the Recovery Group dealt first with
1945, 1243 "hot" (aver 500 counts per minute) spots,
mostly detected by portable counters, were decontaminated.
In June, July, and August 1945, the
{a) recovery of the then priceless
milligram and later with gram amounts of plutonium;
however, in March 1945, as a result of increased
number of decontamination procedures carried out
quantities being processed by the Chemistry and
were 1980,
Metallurgy Division, the Laboratory began to handle
3489 (of which 760 exceeded 30,000 counts
per minute), and 5347, respectively.
Lest the
kilogram quantities of plutonium.
During peak work
reader think that the operations were lax or care-
periods, the staff worked 12-hour shifts 7 days a
less, he should be advised that a large, weil-
week.
Fortunately, by this time new laboratory
trained monitoring staff of approximately 41 persons
facilities were in use in an annex of the old D
worked overtime to maintain the safety standards
Building.
with the crude methods available.
tained under reduced pressure} had replaced the
Pressures to
A suite of three laboratories (main-
build the bomb were so great that work had to pro-
single laboratory D-117.
ceed using the best, although admittedly unsatis-—
open Stainless steel hoods instead of the ordinary
These laboratories had
factory, safety measures of the times.
chemical hoods previously used in D-il?.
Although
two of these laboratories were equipped with air
IfI,
PLUTONIUM OPERATIONS CAUSING HEAVY EXPOSURES
Twenty-three of the 25 living exposed subkA
.
.
jects
worked in four operating groups: Pluto-
nium Purification (wet chemistry), Plutonium Fluorination (dry chemistry), Plutonium Reduction (to
metal), and Plutonium Recovery.
Because the last
operation was by far the most hazardous, it will be
described first.
masks were not entirely satisfactory in protecting
personnel from airborne contamination.
mitted in 1944 and 1945 (many still classified),
as well as references 3 and 5, are the source of
much of the material in this section.
Extensive
interviews with the subjects and their supervisors,
as well as with the health monitors, provided sup-
Not until
July 1945, when a specially made mask (called the
.
KKKKKEK
Kennedy-Hinch mask,
after its designers)
was developed, was there comparatively good protection against airborne radioactivity.
The types of plutonium-containing materials
Monthly reports of the Chemistry
and Metallurgy Research and Health Divisions sub-
submitted to the Recovery Group for processing
included analytical residues; washings (supernatant
solutions)
from various steps in the wet purifica-
tion of plutonium; metallic scraps, shavings, and
trimmings: crucibles composed of various materials
used in the reduction of PuF 4? absorbent materials
used to wipe up accidental spills and other con-
plementary information.
A.
lines, the commercially available positive+pressure
‘taminated materials; graphite tubes used in oxygen
Recovery Operation
analysis; and drybox and chemical hood sweepings.
Fourteen af the 25 subjects with measurable
body burdens of plutonium worked in the recovery
operation between March 1944 and September 1946.
After considerable experimentation, the following basic procedure was adapted for recovery opera.
KKKKAKKK
tions
(see Fig.
5)
:
(a)
soluble salts of
RRAKKKK
RAKKIK
These men were the charter members of the UPPU
Club formed by Wright Langham when this study
began
in the early
1950's.
In essence,
the acronym rep-
resents the phrase ''you excrete plutonium."
The
name was originally IPPU, but Langham
decided this
Was too personal.
The late Joseph W. Kennedy was the leader of
CMR Division.
KEKREKK EK
It should be mentioned that not all of the
recovered plutonium went through the entire procedure. Depending upon the chemical nature and purity
of the plutonium being recovered, various steps of
the total procedure were omitted.
: