Weapons hardness testing

This application of research reactors is included in the document for completeness and historical reasons. It is not expected that many research reactors today will have radiation damage resistance, or hardness, testing as part of their strategic utilization plan. 

During the cold war period, it was especially important to understand how various materials, especially electronic components withstood very high pulses of neutron and gamma radiations. To this end some pulsing reactors were especially built with large cavities for insertion of materials and components. 

For obvious reasons, these facilities were government owned. However, other reactors were contracted to perform materials tests on various components and dosimeters. 

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The ElRl was far from perfect—parts were easily broken, valves were hard to reach unless the operator was a contortionist, and the weapon made an uncomfortably heavy load on the operator s back—but the weapon held a range of 15 to 20 yards for 15 to 20 seconds and on the whole seemed suitable for use in special situations. Since the few that had been produced for the purpose of testing were the only practical American flame throwers in existence, the Army issued them to troops in training camps. Some troops actually carried these crude weapons overseas to the Pacific Islands and employed them in battle. Corporal Tirrell s assault on a Japanese bunker was made with one of these, an ElRl. 

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