blowing at an open~faced ionization chamber across Fiow Sheet for the | A” Process ST l | the room, the subject could cause the needle to go off-scale. outrate toro s HE whiten . 20594 soluhon First Ouatate Residue (~aO5% Pul Remove wpe natant Wain Cot fice eth #20 Cc. Pu! 704'y oor | HNO, awuLon . NabrOy wlwhon « Heat dens of plutonium worked on this operation. Gr, OO. the Purification Group) to oxide and then to flu- | oride prior to reduction to the metallic state. Nal5440 2 Nato, luton + Hepernatans Acetsle Aendur Wash opt teece wih NaPUOsICW09!4 pat plutonium in batches of 160 grams and worked in | shifts around the clock. HNO, solution Slurries of plutonium oxalate (from step 5 or . NH,NO, wiviron Eateact with (CoH5) 40 + Eatracton Resdue L Pu INO ah ether solution 6 in the wet purification procedure) were poured (+0 5% Pul into platinum boats and oxidized by baking in a tube | Reeatract PUD INO 515 into 4.0 furnace within a hood. + HI solution + H C30, whulton carrted across the room to an ordinary analytical } Second Onalate Arndue i~O BS) balance also in a hood. Wash pet once with yO 6. After being weighed, these boats were carried back to a tube furnace in one of PugiC30,4!y opt I~ 97%) Fig. The uncovered boats, contain- ing oxide in the form of a light green powder, were Remove supernatant Wash pot teece with HNO, HCO, solution ch In the spring and summer of 1945, these men handled i~1 2% Pul Nal 4,0 > NaNO5. HC5H405, wluteon . Their job was to convert plutonium oxalate (prepared by PLO JING gh wivhor fe Fluorination Operation Three of the subjects with measurable body bur- ra . This man is well today and did not have a body burden of plutonium as measured by older ; REKRKKKA KK KE urine assay methods. two large hoods with sliding glass doors and fired . : Flow sheet for the purification operation. 3 in the presence of hydrogen fluoride gas and oxygen. The plutonium fluoride was weighed and, if the conversion was not satisfactory, the fluorination pro- be carried out in D Building until September 1945. up a~ Although this group handled 160-gram batches of plutonium totaling 4.9 kg in May 1945, 5.69 kg the Recovery Group. The nature of the cperations Plutonium tetrafluoride powder finally was poured into a glass container, covered, and passed on to the Reduction Group. in June, 6.13 kg in July, and 9.2 kg in August, the hazards to personnel were not as great as those in The 3 men working in the fluorination ocperation could have been exposed to plutonium dust in the form of oxalate, oxide, or fluoride. Some expo- {mainly decanting supematant solutions from pre- sure presumably occurred while they were carrying or cipitates) was such that they were quickly stand- weighing the powdered plutonium even though respira- ardized and carried out in relatively simple closed systems. The body burdens of the 3 subjects in this group were consequently lower than those in th cedure was repeated. the Recovery Group. sures did occur. Nevertheless, accidental expo- In August 1944, a vial containing 10 mg of plutonium chloride in the +4 state exPploded while being opened and heavily contaminated the face and mouth of a young chemist. Although tors were always worn. Further exposure could have occurred when the wooden hoods were decontaminated (i.e., by scrubbing with scouring agents, painting, etc.). Fortunately, there were no serious accidents such as dropping a boat in the open laboratory. D. Reduction Operation Three of the subjects worked in the metal the skin of the face was thoroughly scrubbed and reduction operation. the mouth thoroughly washed out, heavy contamina- reducing plutonium fluoride to the metal, which was tion of the face (estimated to be 1 vg) persisted for several days. alr, From the ionization of expired it was estimated that the level of contamina- tion in the mouth was of the order of 10 Lg. By They developed the methods of RERKEKRKEKKE According to the most recent analysis by J. Lawrence, this man dees have a measurable body burden of plutonium. He is not but should be a member of the UPPU Club.