although apprehension existed regarding the possibil{ty
of radiological contamination of the islands. Most
of the structures were of light frame construction.
Personnel quarters and many administrative and
wor spaces were tents supported by wood frames.
The estimated overpressure from Shot 1 of about
1.4 psi had a positive duration of about 13.4 seconds,
and gave the structures and equipment on these islands the appearance expected from a high-wind
storm. Some buildings collapsed, othera were push-
records of the personnel involved. A general summary of these studies may be found in Chapter 5.
tensive to warrant rehabilitation of a camp for
messing and housing, although the use of the air
strip was continued, and the islands continued as 8
base for construction operations.
As opposed to the light construction described
yield detonations and to provide indoctrination for
combat crews.
PROGRAM 6: TESTS OF SERVICE EQUIPMENT
AND TECHNIQUES
Project 6.1 “Test of Interim IBDA Procedures”
(WT-924), Strategic Air Command; Rockly Trianta-
fellu, Col, USAF, Project Officer.
The Strategic Air Command objective for Castle
ed out of alignment, and many had their roofing stripped or partially stripped. The damage was too ex~
was to determine current IBDA capabilities for highThree B-50's and crews of the 97th Bomb Wing
Detachment staged through Fred Island from Guam
for each shot. The aircraft control surfaces were
painted with thermal-resistant paint, and all windows
and blisters were equipped with thermal protective
curtains. Standard APQ-24 radar and 0-15 cameras
were used to record shot phenomena.
The B-50's werc positioned about 15, 23, and 30
miles from ground zero for each shot at altitudes of
approximately 30,000 feet.
above, two massive reinforced-concrete structures
for protection of scientific instruments were located
at about 2,500 yards from the detonation, at 2bout
130 psi overpressure. One of these was not earthcovered. It was also geometrically unconventiozal ;
the other structure was geometrically conventional.
‘These two structures were subiected to air prescures, gcound accelerations, and thermal radiation
far in excess of that for which designed. The struc-
Excellent radar-scope photographs of the charac-
teristic returns were obtained. Byinterpretation of
the photographs, ground-zerofixes were determined
with sufficient accuracy for IBDA purposes. The
technique of using photographic data to compute yiclds
tures werestill structurally intact after the deto~
nation, although there had been detail failure to such
a degree as tu attribute functional failure to the
buildings <A study of the design details of these
structures shoula be most rewarding to structural
engineers who are concerned with the effective design aspects of nuclear warfare.
proved unreliable.
Project 6.2a “Blast and Thermal Effects on B-36
Atreraft In Flight” (WT-925), Wright Air Develop-
PROGRAM 4: BIOMEDICAL STUDIES
‘ment Center; G. Miller, Project Officer.
Project 4.1 “Study of Response of Human Beings
Data obtained during Ivy and Upshot-Knothole had
AccidantallyExposed to Significant Fallout Radiation”
related the response of the B-36 to the thermal! and
'WT-923;, Naval Medical Research Institute, Naval
Racdioicgical Defense Laboratory; E. P. Cronkite,
CDR, USN. Project Officer.
blast forces of nuclear detonations.
Project 6.2a
was established to prove or disprove the predicted
Addenium Report “Nature and Extent of Internal
Radioactive Contamination of Human Beings, Plants,
and Animals Exposed to Fallout (WT-936).
Adcenduin Report “Medical Examination of Rongelap People Six Months After Exposure to Fallout”
(WT-937).
Addendum Report “Exposure of Marshall Islanders
and American Military Personnel to Fallout”
“WT-~938)
Addendum Report “Physical Factors and Dosimctry in the Marshall Island Radiation Exposures”
(WT-939}).
The project report and the addendum reports noted
represent the documentation of the study of faglout effects on those humans accidentally exposed during
Shot 1.
Since participation was limited to
surface bursts, no attem,t was made to compute
height-of-burst information.
The main project report (WT-923) represents
the overall results of the study; the addendum reports
listed are detailed studies of dosimetry and internal
radioactive contamination, as well as detailed clinical
113
responses of the B-36 aircraft to nuclear, thermal,
and blast forces. These predictions, which were
based upon theoretical and empirical analysis, were
to be used to define the delivery capabilities of the
aircraft.
The same B-36D aircraft which had participated
in Ivy and Upshot-Knothole was selected becauseit
was already partially instrumented for such a test.
The aircraft was flown and maintained by the Strategic
Air Command. The Wright Air Development Center
was responsible for the installation, maintenance,
and operation of the instrumentation as well as the
selection of the position of the aircraft relative to the
detonation. Measurements of peak overpressure,
thermal intensity, and total thermal energy were
made to dctermine the thermal and blast inputs on
the aircraft. To obtain data on the response of the
aircraft to these inputs, it was instrumented further
for the measurementof wing, stabilizer, and fuselage
bending moments, stabilizer shear forces, fuselage