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In Utah in the 1950s, the Army conducted 35 more
open-air trials than previously disclosed of munitions that scattered
radioactive dust to the wind. That brings the publicly known total of
such tests to 68.
That's according to a Deseret News evaluation of documents given this
week to Rep. Karen Shepherd, D-Utah, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, by
Col. James R. King, commander of Dugway Proving Ground.
Shepherd and Bennett requested documents about such trials after the
Deseret News revealed in April that the Army had conducted at least 33
of them between 1949 and 1951 at Dugway. That was 27 more than the six
originally found by the U.S. General Accounting Office in a December
report.
President Clinton has already asked a special commission he formed to
look at the safety and ethics of Cold War radiation experiments to
specifically review the Dugway radiological testing program.
Dugway provided about 1,000 pages of new documents about such testing
this week, but Shepherd says that is only a very small tip of the
whole iceberg of documents she wants made public.
"I was a little surprised by getting the documents. First, we were
told they had a whole room full of documents and it would take months
or years to process them," she said. "Then suddenly we get this pile
about four inches thick."
She said she also is pushing for release of documents on the thousands
of open-air germ- and chemical-warfare experiments conducted at Dugway
during the Cold War and is considering forming an advisory panel of
local scientists and citizens to review the documents and give
opinions about threats faced.
Bennett did not want to release his copies of the documents yet,
saying, "Before jumping to premature conclusions, which may create
unnecessary panic, it is imperative that the raw data first be
analyzed by qualified, scientific experts."
He said he is awaiting analysis by Pentagon experts and hopes to work
with Gov. Mike Leavitt to select such experts on a panel not connected
with the Defense Department.
New tests
The heretofore unknown radiological trials at Dugway all occurred in
1951 and 1952, according to copies of the newly released documents
provided by Shepherd.
They included four trials on May 29, 1951, of different shapes of
radioactive munitions exploded atop 50-foot poles to see which would
best spread contamination. Only one such test at that time had been
hinted at in previous documents.
Also, nine trials occurred on Nov. 3-4, 1951, of small 3-inch
spherical munitions - which were somewhat like radioactive-dust
grenades - that were dropped from airplanes at altitudes up to 5,760
feet above ground and exploded in high winds of up to 38 miles per
hour. One was accidentally released in the wrong place, and several
failed to explode and were never recovered.
Previous documents said at least one such trial was planned, but nine
occurred.
On Nov. 7-8, 1951, the Army dropped two 1,000-pound cluster bombs full
of radioactive tantalum-128 pellets, which quickly disintegrate into
dust upon explosion. Previous documents said at least one such drop
was planned, but two occurred.
Four other until-now-unknown trials occurred on May 20, 1952. Dugway
exploded from 50-foot poles four differently shaped munitions to see
which would best scatter radioactive dust. One released 388.5 curies
of radiation (26 times more than the infamous Three Mile Island
nuclear reactor accident).
On May 21-27, 1952, the Army conducted 16 more heretofore-unknown
trials with the small ball-like dust generators dropped from
airplanes. Only seven actually exploded, six were duds and three
others were assumed to be duds and were not recovered.
And on Sept. 23, 1952, the Army conducted heretofore-unknown trials
with five munitions hung from 50-foot poles. Three malfunctioned and
were essentially duds.
Documents also mentioned tests on how to clean up contaminated areas
in the summers of 1950 and 1952, which experimented in picking up
radioactive pellets or trying to till them under. Dugway dug a
70-by-70-foot pit 3 feet deep to bury much of the contamination it
cleaned up from grids.
New data on old tests
The new documents are detailed technical reports that include a vast
amount of data on munitions size, weather conditions and procedures,
which should help experts evaluate them.
Previous documents often consisted only of letters mentioning tests
and dates or were plans for tests that did not report what exactly
happened or whether tests actually occurred.
The new documents show some tests occurred a day or two later than
earlier thought and likely involved much lower levels of radiation
than other documents said.
For example, one cluster-bomb drop occurred on Aug. 4, 1950 (instead
of Aug. 3 as previous documents had planned) and released 480 curies
(32 times more than Three Mile Island). But that was much less than
the 1,500 curies other documents predicted.
The documents also reveal for the first time that the tests were all
conducted around Granite Peak at Dugway at a series of eight grids.
Documents also showed that most tests used tantalum-182, which was
made by putting nonradioactive tantalum-182 into nuclear reactors at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory until they captured an extra neutron.
Documents said tantalum was selected because it could be made into
pellets that would fly far upon explosion but often disintegrate into
dust, which made decontamination difficult.
Also, documents said it had "a fairly long half-life (120 days) and
thus desirable for long periods of area denial" - not allowing troops
to enter contaminated areas for weeks.
Documents said most radiation was contained on test areas, estimating
that usually no more than 1 percent may have floated away from the
areas. But it did say some tests occurred in high winds and at high
altitudes.
A few accidents also occurred, dropping munitions off target. In one,
a bombardier targeted the wrong grid at Dugway. In another, a munition
was dropped early because of "a crew member in the bay accidently
catching the release mechanism on his parachute." Officials never
found that munition or the area it contaminated if it exploded.
The newly released documents did not mention some tests listed by
previous documents. That includes some cluster-bomb tests on Oct. 22
and Nov. 30, 1949, and in November 1950. They also do not mention
plans that had called for dropping radioactive pellets from hoppers in
high-altitude airplanes.
Shepherd said she hopes experts can assess any dangers the tests
presented. And she said they are worrisome, especially after events
such as when wildfires in Tooele County blanketed Salt Lake County
with smoke because of winds.
"I have received dozens of calls in recent months from constituents
who fear they were unwilling exposed," she said. "I hope these
documents will provide us with a first public glimpse of the legacy
Utahns have lived with as a result of military testing during the Cold
War."
Additional Information
Army details Utah radiation tests
Specific radiation weapons tests revealed so far (with dates of tests
disclosed this week in bold face):
Oct. 22, 1949 - A 2,000-pound cluster bomb full of radioactive
tantalum contaminated 0.6 square miles at Dugway Proving Ground.
Nov. 30, 1949 - Another 2,000-pound cluster bomb contaminated 0.8
square miles.
Aug. 4, 1950 - A cluster bomb with tantalum was exploded 1,450 feet
above the ground, releasing 480 curies of radiation and contaminating
1.7 square miles on the test grid. Sixty-nine percent of radiation
released was not accounted for by grid monitors.
Aug. 6, 1950 - A cluster bomb with tantalum was dropped, but on the
wrong target by error of a bombadier. It was supposed to explode in
the air, but did not until it hit the ground. It contaminated 0.89
square miles on the test grid - but some contamination might have
spread "indefinitely" in some directions.
Aug. 11, 1950 - Four tests exploded different shapes of radioactive
munitions on 50-foot poles to see which would best spread
contamination.
Sept. 5, 1950 - A cluster bomb filled with tantalum exploded at a
height of 1,680 feet, releasing 930 curies and contaminating 2 square
miles of the test grid. Sixty-two percent of expected radiation was
not accounted for by monitors on grid.
Sept. 7, 1950 - A cluster bomb filled with tantalum was exploded at a
height of 2,000 feet, releasing 3,900 curies and contaminating 3.2
square miles on the grid. Seventy-five percent of expected radiation
was not accounted for by monitors on grid.
Sept. 13, 1950 - Fifteen tests occurred of small "dust generators" -
something like radioactive-dust grenades. Some used radioactive
tantalum, and some used radioactive "Agent RA." Each was filled with
1.1 curies of radiation. Most dust fell within 120 yards of munition,
"and very little agent left the area in cloud form."
November 1950 - Plans called for a "heat transfer" study to explode
30,000 curies of tantalum in a cluster bomb to study "the problem
involved in the dissipation of the heat generated in an RW (radiation
weapon) munition."
Sometime in 1951 - Documents called for a test of a system to spread
radioactive pellets from hoppers in high-altitude aircraft, but
documents do not show if it actually happened.
May 29, 1951 - Four tests exploded different shapes of radioactive
munitions on 50-foot poles to see which would best spread
contamination. Only one such test had been hinted at in previous
documents.
Nov. 3-4, 1951 - Nine tests were conducted with spherical radioactive
dust generators dropped from airplanes, exploding as high as 5,760
feet above ground in winds of up to 38 miles an hour. Each sphere
released between 8.5 and 17.8 curies. Earlier documents mentioned
plans for one such test..
Nov. 7-8, 1951 - Two cluster bombs tested (previous reports only
mentioned one). One on Nov. 7 was exploded at 1,700 feet above ground,
releasing 612 curies and contaminating 1.05 square miles on the grid.
Twenty-six percent of expected radiation was accounted for by monitors
on the grid. One on Nov. 8 exploded at 1,050 feet above ground,
releasing 756 curies and contaminating 1.22 square miles on the grid.
May 20, 1952 - Four tests exploded different shapes of radioactive
munitions on 50-foot poles. They each released up to 388.5 curies and
contaminated up to 0.33 square miles on the grid.
May 21-27, 1952 - Sixteen tests were conducted of "dust generator"
spheres dropped from airplanes. Nine may have been duds and three were
never located.
Sept. 23, 1952 - Five munitions in different shapes were tested on
50-foot poles. Three malfunctioned and were essentially duds.
November 1952 - A radiological weapons test of unknown type occurred,
according to previous documents. |
