Category: Radiation Experiment Site

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Tracerlab at 2030 and Berkeley Scientific at 2200 Wright Avenue Richmond CA – Nuclear Devices and testing

Tracerlab processed biological samples from the nuclear tests in Nevada and the Pacific. They were flown in Alameda Naval Air Station and trucked into Tracerlab in Richmond. Tracerlab was the principle contractor to create the Radiological Mobile Laboratory used at the Atomic Tests. They built devices used in radiation work including devices used in nuclear power plants as well as selling radio-isotopes where they bombarded elements to change their atomic number. All this was right down the street from the CDPH building and within range of the EPA Region 9 lab and UC Berkeley Richmond Campus. It is the Eberline building.

In this map, Berkeley Scientific is the building on the left at 2200 Wright Avenue and Tracerlab is the building immediately to its right, next to the CVS and the complex on the right is the California Department of Public Health.

Google map showing the damaged Tracerlab/Everline building surrounded by a fence today.

Continue reading “Tracerlab at 2030 and Berkeley Scientific at 2200 Wright Avenue Richmond CA – Nuclear Devices and testing” →

Bloomfield NJ Uranium Processing at Westinghouse started before 1942

The Westinghouse plant in Bloomfield was in operation purifying uranium before 1942. It was a part of the process to turn Uranium into Uranium metal for the Chicago Pile which had the first nuclear reaction in 1942. Linking Legacies published by the Department of Energy lists some of the sites used in the production of the Atomic bomb. There are a lot more but this was published in 1997. It is part of a congressional hearing, the expert testimony of most hearings are reports like these. https://www.energy.gov/…/2014/03/f8/Linking_Legacies.pdf

This is one of the most densly populated places in the United States 10 miles due west of Manhattan. And it is clear that the Atomic Energy Commission did not care about inspections as will be revealed in these reports.

New Page Glen Ridge New Jersey features the Bloomfield Site and the extensive documentation of the nuclear and toxic waste sites including the EPA Superfund Site of Carteret Street and Lorraine Avenue sites.

Toxic Waste sites in San Francisco

I posted this 5 hour ago and then I just noticed it was gone. What the hell WordPress? We are back again.

Composite image of GeoTracker map showing toxic waste sites. Geotracker uses Google images. Click on the image to go to Flickr

san francisco

Polaris Missiles launched at Hunters Point Shipyard into SF Bay tested by Westinghouse Sunnyvale CA 1959

Westinghouse Electric Corporation Annual Report 1959 ANNUAL REPORT
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION-3 Gateway Center, Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania

Westinghouse Electric Corporation Annual Report 1959 ANNUAL REPORT
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION-3 Gateway Center, Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania

“Dummy Polaris missile is blasted skyward, then quickly arrested by cables as part of “Operation Skycatch” at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. In earlier tests, the dummy missiles were hurled into San Francisco Bay, then retrieved. Under the new method, a huge overhead assembly catches the multi-ton dummy in mid-air, simplifying the retrieving procedure and also permitting accurate study of the effects of launch stresses on dummy missiles which are structurally identical to an actual Polaris. The tests are being conducted by engineers from Westinghouse and the Lockheed Missiles and Space Division in conjunction with the U. S. Navy. Westinghouse is prime contractor for launching equipment, and Lockheed is Polaris missile system prime contractor and manager.”

Before all of the cleanups, and while the US Navy’s Radiological Defense Lab was conducting its radiation experiments all over Hunters Point Shipyard, the Navy was firing off Polaris Missiles spreading the radiation all over the Bay View Hunters Point neighborhood thus causing the highest levels of breast cancer in the world for child bearing age African American Women.

https://sfbayview.com/tag/highest-incidence-rates-of-invasive-breast-cancer-in-the-world/

This is what happens when the Navy keeps things to themselves and refuses to acknowledge the truth, they did this to the people of San Francisco and they should be made to pay for what they have done to the unsuspecting victims of their polution.

13577 Radiation Film Badges were used at Hunters Point Shipyard in 1960

In 1960 the US Naval Radiological Defense Lab developed 2655 Radiation Measuring Film Badges for Treasure Island and 12,688 for the US Naval Radiological Defense Lab at Hunters Point Shipyard along with 889 for Hunters Point Shipyard separate from the Defense Lab. These badges are dosimeters that measure how much radiation a person was exposed to during a period of time and they were collected from all over the Bay Area to be developed and analyzed at the Defense Lab for the year of 1960.

U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory., Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. (1961). Radiological safety at USNRDL: annual progress report health physics division ; 1 January to 31 December 1960. San Francisco, California: U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. p 20

This document is a who’s who of radiological exposure just for one year at the US Navy’s Radiological Defense Laboratory and I highly recommend it as reading material to give you a look into the radiation experiments they conducted on the shipyard (including building numbers) and all throughout the Bay Area, including downtown San Francisco!

The presence of radiation badges means each time a human being was exposed to radiation over the course of an experiment or regular monitoring of radiation exposure on site. A very frequent and robust radiological contaminations were taking place at the Shipyard and Treasure Island in 1960.

Camp Parks in Dublin CA was the field station for the Lab where they conducted radiological tests on the base while military personnel worked and lived on the base. These experiments included using the gymnasium to rain down radioactive isotopes to determine its effects on roof structures and that gymnasium was then “cleaned up” and was used by the Navy and then the Air Force when they took over the base and as recently as last year by private entities before it was torn down. Stanford Research did a lot of radiological work at Camp Parks and it is clear they had many nuclear accidents reported in this report from 1960.

They did this for other locations listed below:

Dosimeter films developed at the USNRDL 1960
NRDLFilm ProcessedTotals
Laboratory personnel7684
Laboratory visitors1619
Environmental monitoring471
Calibration film900
Special films for Nucleonics Div.109
Special films for Bio-Med Div.5
Special films for Health Physics Div.3
RadCon Team film (controls)11
Special test exposures163
Camp Parks Personnel and visitors1361
Camp Parks Environmental monitoring362
12688Subtotal
Outside Activities
San Francisco Naval Shipyard889
Treasure Island Inspector of Navy Material523
Treasure Island Radiac Maintenance School and Dispensary2122
Port Chicago958
NAS Moffett Field97
USN Dispensary, 50 Fell St. , San Francisco56
DPWO, 12ND30
NSC, Oakland (Naval Supply Center, Oakland)200
USS HANCOCK51
NAS Fallon. Nevada67
USNH, Oakland (US Naval Hospital Oakland)21
MSTS, San Francisco24
NAD, Hawthorne, Nevada17
U. S. Coast Guard5
5060Subtotal
17748Total

1946 Project Crossroads Nuclear Test Film

Here is a summary of the time stamps of this video:

Project Crossroads – Nuclear Test Film (1946)
Courtesy: U.S. Department of Energy

1:50 USS independence next to the Nagato before Test Able
2:20 target ships mapped
4:14 The scientists and samples
6:00 Radio controlled drones
7:00 Manhattan project scientists at Kwajalein
9:40 dropping of the bomb
14:31 diffused cloud “dangerous radioactive particles in the air had become so diffused it was no longer a danger to the area.”
15:52 camera on bikini showing shock wave.
17:20 map of what ships got hit as they dropped the bomb off target. Independence noted
18:55 Independence seen just after explosion when the support ships entered the lagoon.
21:54 animals
24:31 Skate stating the inside were damaged, so they went inside it.
25:21 USS Independence
27:34 Baker Test, second test underwater explosion.
40:00 USS Independence

https://youtu.be/2HkLZekOZLU
Project Crossroads – Nuclear Test Film (1946)
Courtesy: U.S. Department of Energy

Continue reading “1946 Project Crossroads Nuclear Test Film” →

Procedures for Decontamination of Plutonium From Various Surfaces, Skin

Christensen, E. L, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Procedures for Decontamination of Plutonium From Various Surfaces. Los Alamos, N.M.: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California, 1959. pp 19-21

See Also: USNRDL-TR-256 PROTECTING AND CLEANING HANDS CONTAMINATED BY SYNTHETIC FALLOUT UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

Aluminum, Brass, Concrete, Glass, Iron and Mild Steel, Lucite, Plexiglass and Other Acrylic Plastics, Monel, Paint, Plastics Other Than Acryiic Based Plastics, Porcelain, Rubber, Skin, Stainless Steel and Tile.

SKIN

Immediate use of a synthetic detergent-sequestrant mixture has been reported to give better decontamination than if the use of the mixture is preceded by soap and water wash. However, no temperature was given for the water used and if the water was warm enough to cause the pores to open, the decontamination solution, normally used cold, would have a difficult time removing the activity. At Los Alamos steps

19

one and two of the recommended procedure normally give sufficient decontamination.

For decontamination of hair, omit the KMnO4 treatment.

A. Recommended procedure.

1. Lather with liquid soap, using cold water, rinse thoroughly.
2. If count still remains, wash with synthetic detergent and sequestrant in a ratio of 1:2. Rinse with water.

a. Sequestrants such as:

  1. Na EDTA-
  2. Citric acid
  3. Sodium citrate
  4. Sodium tartrate
  5. Sodium phosphates
    1. b. Do not use oxalates!

C.P. Cleaner, manufactured by Finley Products, Inc., is also satisfactory. Apply as label directs.

3. If count still remains, scrub with KMnO4 crystals wet with just enough water to make thick paste. Rinse thoroughly. Repeat 5 times. Remove color with a 4% NaHSO3 solution. (Use only as a last resort.)

4. Apply TiO2 paste and rub thoroughly. Remove by swabbing. Rinse thoroughly with water.

B. Decontamination solutions in order of decreasing effectiveness.

1. TiO2 paste (expensive)
2. KMnO4 paste; color removed with 4% NaHSO3

20

3. Synthetic detergent – sequestrant
4. C.P. Cleaner or similar hand cleaner
5. 3% trisodium nitrolotriacetate – synthetic detergent
6. 3% Na citrate, ph 7.0
7. 3% Na acetate, ph 2.0
8. 3% Na tartrate, ph 7.0
9. 3% Na lactate, ph 7.0
10. 3% glycine
11. 3% Na acetate, ph 7.0
12. Water with liquid soap
13. Isotonic saline solution

Dublin California Radiation Experiments at Camp Parks

 

Camp Parks is a Air Force Base that was previously a Navy Base used for radiation experiments in the late 50’s to mid 60’s where they purposely spread radioactive materials onto streets, yards and buildings in order to figure out how to clean up after a nuclear blast. The Navy created dirty bomb incidents all over the Bay Area and trained military personnel from all branches to clean up after a nuclear blast to remove the radiation by scrubbing, firehosing or with street sweepers etc. In the early days, the late 1940’s they thought that fallout was not dangerous, it was not until Operation Castle in 1954 when radioactive fallout fell onto Enewetak Atoll where US military personnel were stationed as well as natives and they got radiation burned from the fallout.

Camp Parks Cobalt 60 Experiments
Camp Parks was used for many radiation experiments Which I will list above when I get the articles up on the site. Fortunately in Complex III tests they decided to limit the amount of radiation they spread onto the grounds, the roads and buildings to .1R per hour which today is a nuclear accident in a nuclear power plant.

Later it would dawn on the Navy that they could use a different colored sand and then just count the grains to figure out the amount of fallout. Continue reading “Dublin California Radiation Experiments at Camp Parks” →

1946-09-23 REPORT NO. 8 – EXPERIMENTAL WORK AT SAN FRANCISCO NAVAL SHIPYARD

Citation: OPERATION CROSSROADS, RADIOLOGICAL DECONTAMINATION OF TARGET AND NON- TARGET VESSELS Part 2 pp. 48-55

REPORT NO. 8 – EXPERIMENTAL WORK AT SAN FRANCISCO NAVAL SHIPYARD
Work on Monday, 23 September 1946:

USS BENEVOLENCE: Setting up of an acid mixing tank on the main deck ana the hookup Of the evaporators so that all six effects will be completely filled with circulating acid was accomplished during the day. The tank was set up on the main deck to simplify operations and keep the evaporator room from getting cluttered up with acid barrels, etc. Where the Yard felt it necessary, sections of piping removed from the evaporators were kept and new pipes substituted. “Hot*’ valves were dipped in a two normal solution of Hydrochloric Acid on the main deck. The valves showed some radioactivity after ten to twenty minutes of such treatment but were declared safe for work by X31 provided there was sufficient ventilation for anyone working on them. Continue reading “1946-09-23 REPORT NO. 8 – EXPERIMENTAL WORK AT SAN FRANCISCO NAVAL SHIPYARD” →

1946-09-20 6th Report, 20 September 1946 – INVESTIGATION OF RADIOACTIVITY of Vessels from Bikini at the San Francisco Naval

Citation: OPERATION CROSSROADS, RADIOLOGICAL DECONTAMINATION OF TARGET AND NON- TARGET VESSELS Part 2 pp. 33-41

SIXTH REPORT

6th Report, 20 September 1946 – INVESTIGATION OF RADIOACTIVITY of Vessels from Bikini at the San Francisco Naval

Shipyard begun on 5 September 1946.

Work was begun yesterday to implement the decisions of the medical “strategy” board convened aboard the USS BENEVOLENCE on the 18th.

In advance of one of the measures decided upon (flushing with fresh water of the Salt Water Systems of the BENEVOLENCE and HENRICO) a careful check was being made of the Salt Water Lines to insure that proper isolation of sections being worked on at present would exist, and as a corollary, to obtain a maximum flushing effect with only portions of the felt Water system available. All Salt Water pumps were ordered inoperable (i.e. electric pumps are to be disconnected, steam driven pumps to have valves locked).

The decision to conduct a burning test on sections of hot Firemain piping containing considerable marine growth (a top priority job) was implemented yesterday by the selection of sections of pipe from the LAFFEY and BOTTINEAU (Copper-nickel and steel respectively). Dr. Chadbourn, after monitoring the piping, selected the Shipfitters Shop aboard the LAFFEY for the test, and took samples while the burning was being done, RBA equipment was used by the burner and Dr. Chadbourn.

The, senior monitor, Lt. Comdr. Skow, took readings on all three evaporators of the BENEVOLENCE in preparation for the injection of Hydrochloric Acid (1 normal) which will be started this morning. The evaporator room, because of its difficulty of access, for pumps, acid barrels etc. has required considerable effort to prepare. The readings of the evaporator scale are now said to be 5 times tolerance (and hence exposure should not exceed 4-1/2 hours) not 2 times as stated in the fifth report.

BENEVOLENCE crew men who on the evening of 18 September brushed the scale from the evaporators were warned by Dr. Skow to take longer on similar jobs in the future, as due to their haste large amounts of highly active scale were deposited on piping and floor plates beneath the evaporators. Dr. Skow monitored the crew members yesterday afternoon to determine if they had acquired any radioactivity in their shoes, clothing, under fingernails etc. No activity was found. Continue reading “1946-09-20 6th Report, 20 September 1946 – INVESTIGATION OF RADIOACTIVITY of Vessels from Bikini at the San Francisco Naval” →