Biomedical And Aerosol Studies Associated With A Field Release Of Plutonium

Author : Robert H. Wilson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (227 download)

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Download or read book Biomedical and Aerosol Studies Associated with a Field Release of Plutonium written by Robert H. Wilson and published by . This book was released on 1957 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 24, 1957, a high-explosive detonation was employed at the Nevada Test Site to release plutonium for field study of this fissile material as a contaminant. One of four major measurement programs was a biomedical experiment which comprised exposure of animals to first deposition of plutonium oxide from the detonation cloud (acute subjects) and to the wind-induced resuspension of contamination (chronic subjects) as long as six months after original deposition. The pattern of plutonium uptake was surprising in that statistically important numbers of acute and chronic animals showed significant bone burdens in an exposure situation for which lung alone was to have been the critical organ. This outcome was most unusual for acute animals sacrificed less than four hours postdetonation. In general, however, all uptakes were less than the forecast amounts. The factor of 100 difference between ground-level contamination at near and far chronic stations brought uptake differences of less than a factor of ten to indicate that airborne material accumulates along the upwind path. Air concentrations bear small if any relation to the 'at foot' contamination for natural resuspension forces (wind). An explanation is advanced for the fact that, in an experiment designed to find time dependence in plutonium uptake, no tissues measured exhibited a correlation with exposure time, save GI tract and contents. The plutonium found in bone suggests some deviation from the pure oxide form (extremely insoluble in body fluids) and the presence of solubilizing influences either in early particulate formation or in animal lung. As yet no believable mechanism has been proposed. All autoradiography gave negative results.