Page:Operation Crossroads 1946.pdf/49



CHAPTER 2

RADIOLOGICAL SAFETY

PLANNING

Proposals to test atomic weapon effects on ships were made at the end of World War II, but the first discussion of radiological safety appears to have occurred at a meeting held 8 December 1945. Among those attending were the commanding general of the Manhattan Engineer District, the chief of the District's Medical section, and a Navy officer closely associated with the atomic bomb project and trained in chemical warfare technology. This officer became Safety Advisor to Commander Joint Task Force 1 (CJTF 1) and headed the task force safety organization. The chief of the medical section, an Army medical officer, became Radiological Safety Advisor to CJTF 1 and headed the task force Radiological Safety Section within the safety organization (Reference A.1, pp. 9, 48, and 49; Reference B.0.1; Reference C.9.206, pp. VII-(C)-1 and VII-(C)-2).

During the next several months, training of radiological safety (radsafe) personnel, organization of the radsafe unit, and writing of the radsafe plan went forward. By 15 December medical officers from the Army, Navy, and Public Health Service had been selected for training in radiological safety. The Manhattan Engineer District took responsibility for radiological safety as the result of a meeting on 7 January 1946 between the joint task force commander designate and the commanding general of the Manhattan Engineering District. The Safety Advisor, the Radiological Safety Advisor, and the Radiological Safety Section were part of the joint task force from the time of its formal establishment on 11 January 1946. By April 15 a radsafe plan was submitted to CJTF 1. The plan was approved with revisions on 28 April. The plan underwent no significant revisions until after shot ABLE (Reference C.9.206, pp. VII-(C)-1 and VII-(C)-2). Relevant portions were reproduced in Appendix B.

Radiological safety, however, was only part of the task force's comprehensive safety program. It also included protecting personnel from fire, explosions, and toxic material. By exposing a fleet of warships, many loaded with ammunition, fuel, and lubricants, to nuclear explosions, the task force added nuclear safety to the many concerns damage control officers had faced for years.

The radsafe plan emphasized detection and avoidance of radiation to protect personnel. Systematic reconnaissance was to begin shortly after each detonation. Navy patrol seaplanes (PBMs) were to conduct aerial surveys over the lagoon and destroyers were to patrol the open ocean upwind and downwind of the atoll. Drone patrol boats were to enter the lagoon first to take water samples. Radsafe monitors aboard gunboats (PGMs) and landing craft (LCPLs) were to ensure the lagoon's radioactivity. B-29s were to track the nuclear cloud. Radsafe monitors were to accompany all units and working parties reentering the target area to recover data or work on the target vessels.

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