Thermal Protection of the Individual Soldier.; Operation Plumbbob, Nevada Test Site May-October 1957, Project 8.1, WT-1440

Natick, MA: U.S. Army, Army Quartermaster Research and Engineering Command, 1959. Defense Technical Information Center reprint 2004. Wraps with two staples on the left side. Good. [4], 48, [1] pages, plus covers. Red lettering on spine. Downgraded from Official Use Only to Unclassified. Issued by the Headquarters Field Command Defense Atomic Support Agency, Sandia Base, Albuquerque, NM. Contents includes Preface, Introduction, Procedure, Results, Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations, five Appendices, and References. Numerous tables included. The objectives were to evaluate in the field, under live conditions, in an actual nuclear detonation, the performance of clothing and other items developed for the protection of the individual soldier and to provide assistance to the personnel of Project 8.2 in an investigation of the feasibility of using a skin stimulant as a substitute for animal skin in studying weapon effects. The items developed to provide thermal protection for the soldier included two experimental hot-weather uniform ensembles, three shielding materials, a protective cream, and a three-layer flashoff-reflector-insulating systems. these were exposed during Shot Pricilla to anticipated thermal energies varying from 10 to 25 cal/cm2, together with appropriates controls while using white-skinned pigs a test subjects. Both experimentally designed uniform ensembles provided considerably greater protection than did the control. However, all uniform assemblies were so damaged at all exposure levels as to be judged functionally unsuitable. All shielding materials were destroyed, but the efficiency of the shielding principle was demonstrated. It was considered that the overall objectives of the test were met successfully. Operation Plumbbob was a series of nuclear tests conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957, at the Nevada Test Site, following Project 57, and preceding Project 58/58A. The operation consisted of 29 explosions, of which only two did not produce any nuclear yield. Twenty-one laboratories and government agencies were involved. The Operation Plumbbob tests included forty-three military effects tests on civil and military structures, radiation and bio-medical studies, and aircraft structural tests. Operation Plumbbob had the tallest tower tests to date in the U.S. nuclear testing program as well as high-altitude balloon tests. Almost 1,200 pigs were subjected to bio-medical experiments and blast-effects studies during Operation Plumbbob. On shot Priscilla (37 kt), 719 pigs were used in various experiments on Frenchman Flat. Some pigs were placed in elevated cages and provided with suits made of different materials, to test which materials provided best protection from the thermal radiation. Some pigs survived, but with third-degree burns to 80% of their bodies. Other pigs were placed in pens behind large sheets of glass at measured distances from the hypocenter to test the effects of flying debris on living targets. Studies were conducted of radioactive contamination and fallout from a simulated accidental detonation of a weapon; and projects concerning earth motion, blast loading and neutron output were carried out.