INTRODUCTION

Operation Castle was an atmosoheric nuclear test series conducted ia tnz

Marshall Islands from Mareh to May of 1954. The most notorious test of the series
was Bravo, a 15 megaton

(1) thermonuclear explosive.

The top of the resultant

[1]

debris cloud reached to nearly 35 km at stabilization time.

Because of an unexpected shift in mid-tropospherice wind directions following

detonation of Bravo, the

fallout pattern, instead of heading in the predicted

northeast direction, had an easterly alignment. As a result, persons on the atolls of
Rongelap and Rongertk were exposed to relatively high levels of fallout from tne
nuclear explosion.

Prompt action was taken by U. S. Task Force personnel to -

evacuate the natives of these islands. Some of the natives on Rongelap, the closest
to the detonation point, suffered temporary nausea and minor skin burns.

None

axnidited any medium or long term effects from their exposure.
However, after about 10 years, those Rongelap natives, who were young
children in 1954 developed non-maligment nodules on their thyroid glands.

Since

then tne occurrence of similar nodules among the Utirik natives has been reported.
The rate of occurrence has been higher than would be expected statistically. The
purpose of this report is to calculate deposition and surface air concentration plots,
using a three-dimensional particle-in-cell suite of codes to estimate the doses at the
isLands from which the natives were evacuated. We will also consider the dose from
cainout as part of the deoris cloud crossed the atolls.

Finally, the calculated time

ststory of air concentrations on the downwind islands will be presented for several
nuclides.

Select target paragraph3