Shipboard radiological - countermeasure methods

Various test surfaces and specimens were exposed on YAG-39 and YAG-40 to fallout from Shots Zuni, Flathead and Tewa. Contaminability-decontaminability (C-D) studies were conducted when the ships returned to Eniwetok Lagoon. Three days after Zuni the average reading in the nonwashdown area of the YAG-40 was approximately 350 mr/hr and in the washdown area approximately 90 mr/hr. When the decontamination studies were initiated, the average levels after Flathead were lower than those after Zuni by a factor of 10. The average nonwashdown reading was 35 mr/hr and the washdown reading, 10 mr/hr. The removal of the removable radiological protective coating (RRPC) after Zuni in the nonwashdown area removed all but 0.5 to 8.0% of the contaminant, while firehosing alone left a residual of 6 to 28%.