Bikini test

Pu was discovered in the debris of the Bikini test in 1952, and its decay constants have been redetermined by Fields et al. to be as follows a-decay (8.18 0.26) X 107t/, spontaneous fission decay (6.55 0.32) X 1010t/ (5). 

The eoneentration of tritium inereased by over a hundredfold when thermonuelear weapon testing began on Bikini Atoll in Mareh 1954 but has now subsided as a result of the ban on atmospherie weapon testing and the natural radioaetivity of... 

The first hydrogen (fusion) bomb to be tested by the United States is exploded at Bikini Atoll. 

Bikini Atoll (not specified)a, U.S. Nuclear Test Site from 1946 to 1958, including BRAVO explosion on 3/1/54 Robison etal. 1997b... 

Robison WL, Bogen KT, Conrado CL. 1997b. An updated dose assessment for resettlement options at Bikini Atoll-a U.S. nuclear test site. Health Phys 73(1) 100-114. 

The first US thermonuclear bomb was detonated near the ground at Bikini atoll in 1954, and much surface material was incorporated into the fireball, but most US and USSR thermonuclear tests were conducted at altitude, and relatively small amounts of material were vapourised. Consequently small particles were formed on condensation, and these have become attached to the general stratospheric aerosol (Harley, 1980). 

Public interest in radioactive aerosols began in the mid-1950s, when world-wide fallout of fission products from bomb tests was first observed. The H-bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1954 had tragic consequences for the Japanese fisherman, and the inhabitants of the Ronge-lap Atoll, who were in the path of the fallout. In 1957, radio-iodine and other fission products, released in the accident to the Windscale reactor, were tracked over much of Europe, and these events were repeated on a much larger scale after the Chernobyl accident. 

Then, on March 1, 1954, the United States tested a new kind of bomb, a superbomb powerful enough to obliterate an entire Pacific island. Pauling was outraged as he learned more about it over the following weeks. It appeared to be a thousand times more powerful than the bomb used on Hiroshima. The one blast that destroyed Bikini Atoll contained more explosive force than all the bombs used in every war in human history to that time. 

In much the same way, natural polymeric fibers like wool, cotton, silk, etc., are often touted as superior to anything that is man-made or synthetic. But is this fair There is no doubt that natural fibers have a unique set of properties that have withstood the test of time (e.g., it is difficult, but not impossible, to match silk s feel or cotton s ability to breathe ). On the other hand, consider Lycra , a completely synthetic fiber produced by DuPont (Figure 1-12) that has a truly amazing set of properties and is the major component of Spandex (a material that keeps string bikinis on ). Or consider the wrinkle-free polyester fibers used in clothing and the stain proof nylon and polyacrylonitrile polymers used in carpets. The point here is that polymers, be they natural" or synthetic, are all macromolecules but with different chemical structures. The challenge is to design polymers that have specific properties that can benefit mankind. 

The evolution of environmental radioactivity and radiation measurements in Japan originated essentially in the survey of widespread radioactivity contamination due to the nuclear explosion tests at Bikini atoll on 1st March, 1954. Today, environmental radiation monitoring in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities has become more important than radioactive fallout surveillance, since 38 nuclear power plants are already in operation or under construction in Japan. 

Bikini and Enewetak Atolls were used as sites for tests related to nuclear weapons by the USA between 1946 and 1958 (see map in Fig. 10.12 for the location of Marshall Islands and vicinity). 

Bikini Atoll was the site of 24 of the 66 tests conducted under water, at ground level and above ground in the Marshall Islands (see Fig. 10.13). The yields of the tests at Bikini Atoll amounted to about 72% of the total yield of 1.1x10 kilotonnes (kt) of TNT equivalent for both test sites (Simon and Graham, 1995). 

Fig. 10.13. Dates of 24 atomic weapons tests at Bikini Atoll and explosive yields (after Simon and Graham,...

Prior to the Able test in 1946, the first nuclear test in Bikini Atoll, the 167 Bikinians then living on Bikini Island were evacuated to Rongerik Atoll, about 200 km to the east. 

Nuclear weapon tests conducted at Bikini Atoll... 

Fig. 10.14. Bikini Atoll (A-J) locations of nuclear weapon test detonations (1 NM = 1.85 km).

In 1978, it was determined that for the inhabitants of Bikini Atoll a tenfold increase in the body content of the radionuclide Cs had occurred (Miltenberger et al., 1980). This increase was the result of a combination of the coconut trees starting to bear fruit and a drought that led to increased consumption of coconut fluid. Apart from assessments of the long-term impacts on the Bikinians, studies have been conducted on service personnel and Japanese fishermen exposed, in particular, as a consequence of the Castle Bravo test (Klenm et al., 1986 Kumatori et al., 1980 Eisenbud, 1987 Sharp and Chapman, 1957). 

At the Bikini Atom Bomb Tests in 1946, my title was Chief Phenom-enologist. John Magee and 1 had the job of predicting all of the different... 

A key pioneer in the development of the Anger camera was the late William G. Myers of Ohio State University. As a graduate student at Ohio State, Bill s PhD. thesis was on the potential role of the cyclotron in biomedicine as the source of positron-emitting radiotracers. Bill had participated in the atomic bomb testing at Bikini prior to becoming an internist and nuclear physician. He traveled every summer to the Donner Laboratory to direct a course in the use of radioactive tracers in biomedicine. 

The largest and most exposed population was on Rongelap Island, some one hundred miles east of the bomb test site at Bikini. Rescue ships did not arrive there until forty-nine hours after the test explosion. The last person was evacuated fifty-four hours after the fallout reached the ground. 

Hydrogen bomb (Edward Teller) The first hydrogen bomb, designed by Teller, is tested at the Bikini AtoU in the Pacific Ocean. 

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