Nuclear testing

Keller, C.E., Utility of Shock Models for Underground Nuclear Tests, in Shock Waves in Condensed Matter—1983 (edited by Asay, J.R., Graham, R.A., and Straub, G.K.), North-Holland Physics, Amsterdam, 1984, pp. 485-487. 

The earliest tables were compiled from data collected from nuclear weapon tests, in which very high yield devices produced sharp-peaked shock waves with long durations for the positive phase. However, these data are used for other types of blast waves as well. Caution should be exercised in application of these simple criteria to buildings or structures, especially for vapor cloud explosions, which can produce blast waves with totally different shapes. Application of criteria from nuclear tests can, in many cases, result in overestimation of structural damage. 

In the 1930s a theoretical treatment of the covalent bond was developed by, among others, Linus Pauling (1901-1994), then at the California Institute of Technology. The atomic orbital or valence bond model won him the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954. Eight years later, Pauling won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to stop nuclear testing. 

Nuclear testing has increased the amount of carbon-14 in the air, and sensitive radiocarbon dating techniques take this increase into account. 

Fossil fuel emissions alter the isotopic composition of atmospheric carbon, since they contain no C and are depleted in C. Releasing radiocarbon-free CO2 to the atmosphere dilutes the atmospheric C content, 3delding lower C/C ratios ("the Suess effect"). From 1850 to 1954 the C/C ratio in the atmosphere decreased by 2.0 to 2.5% (Fig. 11-23) (Suess, 1965 Stuiver and Quay, 1981). Then, this downward trend in C was disrupted by a series of atmospheric nuclear tests. Many large fission explosions set off by the United States with high emission of neutrons took place in 1958 in the atmosphere and the Soviet Union held extensive tests during... 

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

Am levels reflect resuspension of dust contamination at the WIPP site and not background 241Am levels. Present background levels result from past atmospheric nuclear testing and would be fairly uniform throughout the northern hemisphere. 

Workers at plutonium reprocessing facilities, nuclear reactors, transuranium and low level waste storage facilities, or those engaged in the production or processing of243Am or241 Am may be occupationally exposed to americium. In addition, workers at sites where nuclear testing was conducted may also be exposed to americium. Workers in nuclear power stations may be exposed to airborne radionuclides. The... 

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. 

Stradling GN, Stather JW, Gray SA, et al. 1992. Radiological implications of inhaled 239Pu and 241 Am in dusts at the former nuclear test site in Maralinga. Health Phys 63(6) 641-650. 

Additional net heat sources are studied in ongoing research at LTU. The preliminary results show that the nuclear testing did contribute much though such bombs are powerful. The studied wars (II WW and the war in Kuwait (1990) also indicates that the bombings did not contribute much to the net heating. However, the secondary effects of the wars like the burning of oil fields in Kuwait meant a considerable net heating. 

Irwin Goodwin. Fallout of Atmospheric Nuclear Tests in 1950s and 1960s Exposed More People to Iodine-131 than Chernobyl Accident. Physics Today. 50 (Sept. 1997) 54-55. 

Clam, Rangia cuneata, Neuse River, North Carolina, 1965-67, soft parts before Chinese nuclear tests in May and December 1966 vs. posttest ... 

Caribou in northern Quebec contained up to 1129 Bq 137Cs/kg muscle FW in 1986/87, but only 10 to 15% of this amount originated from Chernobyl the remainder is attributed to fallout from earlier atmospheric nuclear tests (Crete et al. 1990). The maximum concentration of 137Cs in meat of caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) from the Alaskan Porcupine herd after the Chernobyl accident did not exceed 232 Bq/kg FW, and this is substantially below the recommended level of 2260 Bq 137Cs/kg FW (Allaye-Chan et al. 1990). Radiocesium transfer in an Alaskan lichen-reindeer-wolf (Canis lupus) food chain has been estimated. If reindeer forage contained 100 Bq/kg DW in lichens and 5 Bq/kg DW in vascular plants, the maximum winter concentrations — at an effective half-life of 8.2 years in lichens and 2.0 years in vascular plants — were estimated at 20 Bq/kg FW in reindeer-caribou skeletal muscle and 24 Bq/kg FW in wolf muscle (Holleman et al. 1990). 

Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus] muscle , 37Cs 1964-65 (following nuclear tests) vs. 1985-86 Max. 2500-2600 FW vs. 300 FW 7, 8... 

Samuels, David. Buried Suns The past and possible future of Americas nuclear-testing program. Harper s Magazine, June 2005, 66. 

---