Concentrations of Gamma-Emitting Fallout Radionuclides from \u3cem\u3ePicea rubens\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eRhododendron maximum\u3c/em\u3e of the Great Smoky Mountains

The testing of nuclear bombs and the subsequent release of radioactive fallout over the past 18 years has brought many problems related to the distribution of radioactive fallout and the affect of fallout on man and on his environment. The detonation of a nuclear devise produces some 170 radioactive isotopes. From these 170 isotopes there are seven gamma-ray-emitting fission products that have a half-life of such significant length that they are important in world-wide radioactive fallout problems (Table I, adapted from Mortensen, 1961). It was the purpose of this study to measure the amount of fission produced gamma-emitting radionuclides in certain broad leafed and needle leafed evergreen woody plants of different cover types at sites receiving different amounts of rainfall in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee

EC67-769 Fallout in Food

Extension Circular 67-769: Fallout in food; what fallout is, radiation hazard, radioactive isotopes, protection samples, and food inspection necessary

Fallout and You

Fallout and you fact sheet addresses what radioactive fallout is, How to avoid contamination caused by nuclear explosion, equipment required for shelter, radioisotopes, Iodine 131 and Strontium 90, by-products, and what to do in a nuclear emergency

Preparing for the Bomb: The Development of Civil Defence Policy in Canada, 1948–1963

During the period 1948 to 1963 civil defence in Canada developed in a number of stages that reflected changes in technology, weaponry and scientific discovery. The first stage of development, roughly between 1948 and 1952, witnessed only minor developments. Civil defence followed the Second World War practice, with a focus on air raid shelters and, if possible, evacuation. In the years 1952 to 1954 as the possibility of a nuclear attack became more real as a result of the Soviet development of intercontinental bombers, civil defence officials moved towards a policy of mass evacuation of target areas and the rescue of survivors. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb and the discovery of radioactive fallout in 1954 led to yet another change in civil defence plans. Civil defence officials became more convinced that mass evacuation of target areas was the answer, however, fallout shelters were also recommended for those areas outside the target area likely to be blanketed with radioactive debris. In the late 1950s and into the early 1960s civil defence again had to be redefined as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were developed and evacuation was no longer possible as nuclear attack could occur virtually without warning

Protecting Against the Effects of Nuclear Weapons

Despite the increase in size of atomic-age weapons, most rural people would escape the direct blast and damage- their problem would be radioactive fallout. You can take steps to protect you, your family and livestock from fallout with the suggestions provided here

The Chernobyl Reference Horizon (?) in the Greenland Ice Sheet

Published reports of the presence of radioactive debris from the Chernobyl reactor accident in snow on the Greenland ice sheet raised the strong prospect that such debris might constitute a valuable time stratigraphic marker all over the ice sheet. Large volume snow samples to test this possibility were collected from 7 snowpits as part of a wide ranging regional snow chemistry survey conducted during 1987 and 1988. Snow “labeled” with Chernobyl derived radioactivity was detected in all of the pits. However, the total amount of radioactive debris found at the different locations varied over a 20 fold range. The variability in total fallout showed no clear large scale spatial pattern that could be related to the presumed progress of the radioactive plume over Greenland, suggesting that small scale differences in precipitation pattern and reworking of the snow by wind were predominantly responsible for the patchy preservation of the Chernobyl “layer” on the Greenland ice sheet

ESR dosimetry study of population in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site

A tooth enamel electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry study was carried out with the purpose of obtaining the individual absorbed radiation doses of population from settlements in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan, which was exposed to radioactive fallout traces from nuclear explosions in the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site and Lop Nor test base, China. Most of the settlements are located near the central axis of radioactive fallout trace from the most contaminating surface nuclear test, which was conducted on 29 August 1949, with the maximum detected excess dose being 430 ± 93 mGy. A maximum dose of 268 ± 79 mGy was determined from the settlements located close to radioactive fallout trace resulting from surface nuclear tests on 24 August 1956 (Ust-Kamenogorsk, Znamenka, Shemonaikha, Glubokoe, Tavriya and Gagarino). An accidental dose of 56 ± 42 mGy was found in Kurchatov city residents located close to fallout trace after the nuclear test on 7 August 1962. This method was applied to human tooth enamel to obtain individual absorbed doses of residents of the Makanchi, Urdzhar and Taskesken settlements located near the Kazakhstan–Chinese border due to the influence of nuclear tests (1964–1981) at Lop Nor. The highest dose was 123 ± 32 mGy

Simple Shelters?: Monitoring Radioactive Fallout Across Canada, 1959–63

During the early Cold War, the Canadian government adivsed public that they could cheaply build fallout shelters in their homes to protect their families from radiation after a nuclear war. Publicly, the government stayed out of the shelter-building business, citing the cost was too high. However, from 1959 to the mid-1960s, the Canadian Army secretly constructed a network of 2,000 fallout shelters in government building: the Nuclear Detonation and Fallout Reporting System. This article explores the origins of this network and the reasons for its decline