SMALL BOY SHOT FALLOUT RESEARCH PROGRAM
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technical parameters that influenced the character and magnitude of
the hazards.
The fallout study program for the Small Boy shot, as part of the
last series of aboveground field tests of nuclear weapons, was cooperatively organized and sponsored by the Office of Civil Defense
(OCD), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC). The projects sponsored by OCD were under the
operational control of the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA);
those sponsored by AEC were under the operational control of their
Civil Effects Test Organization (CETO).
WEAPON-TEST-FALLOUT STUDY PROGRAM
A general outline of the information and data requirements and
the program objectives was prepared prior to the establishment of the
experimental projects for the Small Boy shot field test. This outline
was reviewed by various representatives of OCD, DASA, and AEC.
The outline, reflecting operational data requirements by the three
agencies, included an overall design of field experimental programs
for improving the data base on fallout. The data needs were divided
into the following four subprogramsor study areas:
1. Fallout formation
2. Distribution of fallout
3. Definition of radiological exposure environments
4, Alteration of exposure environments by radiological counter-
measures
For each of the four study areas, a general list of the parameters
for direct or indirect experimental evaluation was prepared. These
are given in Tables 1 to 4. The first three study areas were organized
to provide input data for fallout-model development and radiologicalhazard evaluations needed by all three agencies. The fourth study area
was designed somewhat more specifically for providing information for
use in the evaluation of radiological-safety programs for AEC and in
the design and evaluation of radiological-defense systems for OCD.
The main overall objective of the weapon-test-fallout study was
to make experimental determinations and to obtain and report experimental data needed for describing and defining the parameters in each
of the four study areas. The objective for the field-test program was
limited to the taking and reporting of experimental data because each
agency sponsored other research tasks for the correlation and evaluation of the observed data and because inclusion of data analysis in
field-test reports previously had usually resulted in extended delays in
report publication.