In Utah in the 1950s, the Army spread radioactive pellets from high-altitude aircraft, tested dust generators that spewed radioactive specks and exploded radioactive metal in a variety of shapes to see which would most effectively spread contamination.
The smallest of those until-now secret tests released 6.7 times as much radiation as the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident. The largest known test among them released a whopping 2,000 times more.Documents obtained by the Deseret News through the Freedom of Information Act suggest more than 600 such tests may have occurred but contain specifics on just 27 until-now undisclosed open-air experiments.
The information became available three months after congressional probers working for the U.S. General Accounting Office first revealed six other radiation weapons tests at Dugway Proving Ground that dropped cluster bombs to scatter radioactive material packed inside.
President Clinton has ordered creation of a commission that will study the ethics of radiation experiments and review those six GAO-revealed tests, which now appear to have been just the tip of the iceberg in Utah.
Documents show that many tests were part of a full-scale program at Dugway to develop weapons to radiologically contaminate not only battlefield areas but also enemy cities. Watchdog groups said the Army denied all such programs for years.
Documents also suggest the program may have continued years beyond the tests in the 1949-1952 period for which information was released by the U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command.
One nuclear expert guesses that most contamination was likely limited to the remote, Rhode-Island-size Dugway base. Another worries that radioactive dust may have been carried by winds off the base or may have entered the local food chain.
All experts say that the sketchy information obtained so far makes it impossible to say how dangerous the testing was.
"It's tough to tell. But frankly, Dugway was doing things that were unacceptable then, let alone by today's standards," said Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, who was director of health physics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 29 years and who had some contact with Dug-way officials during the test periods.
The tests
Documents say four major types of radiation weapons tests occurred at Dugway between 1949 and 1952:
- Cluster bombs: Cluster bombs weighing a ton each were dropped from airplanes flying at 20,000 feet. Munitions were exploded about 800 feet above ground, showering the surrounding area with radioactive tantalum metal - with particles traveling up to 7,800 feet per second. Various types of explosives were used in an attempt to create smaller particles, which could travel farther.
Such tests released between 1,500 and 30,000 curies of radiation each. In comparison, Three Mile Island is reported to have released 15 curies (but created great worry because it had the potential to release much more near large cities).
- Small pellets: Tests were designed and approved for "a system for dropping small pellets from a hopper in a plane at high altitudes." Released documents do not confirm that they were carried out but indicate they were imminent.
- Radioactive specks: Dust generators were used to spread radioactive specks "over large areas." The dust was to be ejected from small spherical units "by the burning of smokeless powder." Some were to be used on the ground, and some similar munitions were to be dropped from airplanes.
- Munitions explosions: Cross sections of munitions were exploded from platforms or poles to determine which shapes of radioactive material would lead to maximum contamination. Each test released about 100 curies of radiation.
1 million curies
The Army wanted the tests to lead to a "completed munition containing one megacurie of activity" by 1954, but documents do not reveal whether that goal was achieved.A megacurie is 1 million curies of radiation, which the Army hoped to spread over areas of between one and 10 square miles.
"To put that in context, one curie (the amount of radiation from one gram of radium) is about the most that Madam Curie ever had in her lab. And that killed her (by leukemia), her daughters and most of her workers," said Preston J. Truman, president of the Down-win-ders watchdog group.
Keith Schiager, director of the University of Utah Radiological Health Department, said most scientists in protective clothing measure their radiation exposure in thousandths, millionths or even smaller increments of curies.
Truman added, "All the low-level radioactive waste dumped at the Envirocare facility in the desert each year - under tight control - amounts to only 1 or 2 curies . . . Material that hot (the Dugway test material) would never be allowed at Envirocare. It wasn't low-level stuff."
The largest of the known tests was expected to release 30,000 curies in 1951. Officials called it a "heat transfer study" to help them research and address "the problem involved in the dissipation of heat generated in an RW (radiological warfare) munition."
Truman said, "30,000 curies is about what some of the leaks from underground (nuclear bomb) testing in Nevada released. That's a lot."
`Very hot stuff'
All the tests used radioactive tantalum, a metallic element. Morgan said the isotope the Army probably used was tantalum 182 - which he said likely would have been made by placing regular tantalum 181 in nuclear reactors at Oak Ridge, allowing it to capture an extra electron over time and become radioactive.
"It was very hot stuff," he said. Morgan, who is also a retired professor of nuclear physics at Georgia Tech, added that maybe only plutonium was more dangerous among common radioactive material at the time. He said tantalum 182 was more cancer-causing than such elements as cesium and strontium 90.
Morgan was chairman of a committee that established permissible exposure levels for various radioactive materials, including tantalum 182. He said acceptable exposure was just 7 microcuries (seven one-thousandths), based on its potential to cause cancer in the liver or the gastrointestinal tract.
Morgan said workers could be around air with no more than .00000009 microcuries per cubic centimeter of air. The maximum allowed for the general public was one-thirtieth of that amount.
"It was not something you would want to be around," Morgan said.
How dangerous?
Morgan, Schiager and Truman said assessing exactly how dangerous the testing was cannot be done without knowing the weather and wind conditions, how far material was spread, the size of the particles and the extent of cleanup.
The Deseret News has requested such information. But Pentagon spokesman Bob Potter said providing the material would require significant research, if such 42-year-old information even exists, and the newspaper's request is in line behind dozens of other requests.He did not expect that a response would be generated promptly.
But Schiager said, "When the tests talk about dropping radioactive pellets, it makes it sound like the particles were big enough that they would fall to the ground fairly quickly.
"They could still blow a ways, like maybe a mile or two - but not hundreds of miles," he said. "But all that is just a guess without knowing exactly how big the particles were. And you don't have that."
Morgan said researchers at Oak Ridge, where he worked, would have covered any such pellets with stainless steel, "and then they could have been collected on the ground easily by someone using a Geiger counter. But I don't have any idea if Dugway did that."
He said other experiments designed to spread radioactive dust or explode tantalum into small particles make him worry that "they could have gone all over in the wind," possibly reaching cities or "getting into the food chain." Dugway is a huge base, where wildlife freely roam in and out of the borders.
Lax safety?
Wording in some of the documents could add fuel to worries about contamination spreading beyond Dugway.
First in 1951, a subcommittee overseeing radiological weapons testing recommended that "meteorological requirements for carrying out the tests could be reduced considerably, if necessary, in order to get the tests off on time" - which suggests the Army was more concerned about schedules than safety.
The same committee also recommended a change so that "no detailed upper air meteorological data are required subsequent to two or three hours after each test" - which could present problems in knowing how far small particles may have traveled.
Also, documents about cluster-bomb testing in 1950 indicate more powerful explosives were used than in 1949, in an effort to "cause greater break-up of particles" - which might allow them to travel farther, and not quickly fall to the ground.
And documents discussing dust-generator tests in 1950 noted that in at least three of 15 scheduled tests, "no control over particle size appears possible" - meaning the extent of the dispersal could not be pre-determined. Designers said they hoped particles could "be dispersed over large areas."
But Army documents did note the military directed that "as low an amount of radioactivity should be used . . . as is consistent with accurate samples (about 500 curies per sq. mi.)"
Dugway's track record
Still, some previously disclosed behavior by Dugway in the same time period with chemical and biological warfare tests may also raise some concern about its radiological work.
For example, the Deseret News revealed three years ago that Dugway scientists dropped toxic cadmium sulfide from airplanes throughout the Eastern United States without warning in tests designed to see how biological agents might be spread.
Other documents released through the years to the Deseret News and Congress said that chemical and biological tests were not confined to the base in Utah. For example, one 66-square-mile area south of the base is so contaminated that the military wanted to add it to Dugway's borders.
Morgan said he visited Dugway a couple of times in the 1950s while such testing was ongoing and was under instructions to help the Army where possible with some technical problems. "But I didn't know what it was doing. If I had, I would have raised all hell."
But he noted the military was "under tremendous pressure" to gauge the feasibility of radiological and other warfare. Morgan is currently writing a book about what he feels were government excesses with radiation testing in that period.
Full-scale program
The testing at Dugway was not just a few isolated experiments, but was part of a full-scale radiological warfare program designed to test the feasibility of using "products from the atomic pile to produce death or casualties in man, animals and plants."
Because such a program "requires large areas and isolation from human habitation for test security reasons and because of the extreme hazards involved," the Army chose Dugway and the then-adjoining Wendover Air Force Base as its home "after an extensive survey and study of field test sites."
Documents said much of the chemical and biological work already under way at Dugway would blend nicely with radiation weapons work, and "therefore some personnel may be used for work in all three fields."
Of note, 12,000 open-air chemical tests would be conducted at Dugway in the 1950s and '60s, as would about 2,500 germ warfare tests that have been revealed. That was on top of the radiological tests.
In 1949, documents said the radiation warfare program at Dugway included 190 people, and had a budget that year for construction alone of $1.6 million.
Documents suggest that testing may have occurred at several places around Dugway, but the only one specifically named is a site near Wig Mountain. Officials thought it was too small and recommended against using it.
Officials had recommended using tests sites for a year and then letting them sit dormant for two years before using them again - which it said would allow radiation intensity from leftover tantalum to decrease by a factor of 64. Morgan said the half-life of tantalum 182 is a relatively short 115 days.
Targets cities too
Documents show the program was not just developing radiological weapons for battlefield use but also for possible use against cities.
Officials complained in one document, for example: "There is no terrain at Dugway which reasonably simulates the cities and built-up areas of the targets on which RW (radiological warfare) might be used."
Another document said that might be overcome by a possible test attack or two "of a built-up area in the Savannah River region" around Georgia.
Truman said, "We (Down-winders) sought documents about radiation warfare for years, but all we got was outright denials or statements saying they couldn't find any documents about it."
How many tests?
New documents released to the Deseret News plus information earlier released by the General Accounting Office identify 31 specific radiological weapons tests from 1949 to 1952. But Deseret News documents suggest more than 600 may have occurred in the period, and that testing may have continued for years afterward.
A document describing six tests planned in 1951 notes they were numbered "Field Tests 619-624," which suggests 618 other field tests had already occurred. It is unclear whether the number referred to radiation tests alone, or a mixture of radiation, chemical and biological warfare tests.
Documents also said testing was planned through at least 1954, and maybe beyond. Also in previous years, the Deseret News obtained documents about germ and biological testing that mentioned some radiological tests planned later in the 1950s and '60s.
For example, earlier obtained documents from the old Army Chemical Corps said that in 1957, a study on the "feasibility of rapid aerial surveys of large-scale radiological contamination" was undertaken. To do that, it contaminated areas "1,500 yards long and 100 yards wide, in which 4,000 curies of cobalt 60 had been placed in source wells."
The same report even said radiological weapons had major advantages over chemical and germ weapons because they "(were) less affected by meteorological conditions, produced longer periods of denial and (were) less subject to personnel protective measures."
Other documents mentioned that radiological warfare tests were conducted at Dugway from 1960 to 1962, in part to scrutinize shielding methods during a moratorium on open-air nuclear bomb tests. When the bomb tests resumed, those radiological shielding tests at Dugway seem to have been discontinued.
Previously obtained documents mention that an interesting part of radiological weapon research in 1962 included looking at "the possibility of developing a ray gun weapon employing a linear electron accelerator." A contract for such research was given to General Electric.
Questions about how many tests occurred and for how long were directed to Dugway, which deferred to the Chemical and Biological Defense Command, which deferred to Army headquarters, which deferred to the Defense Department.
Its spokesman, Potter, said a response would require research that could not be completed in the immediate future.
One person who believes the Army conducted hundreds of radiological tests is Truman with the Downwinders.
"That's because we continually have received calls and heard rumors through the years that the government tested atomic bombs at Dugway," he said.
"I don't believe that. They couldn't have gotten away with that. Too many people would have noticed, and our research has never shown anything like that happened . . . But maybe people heard friends talking about radiological weapons. And radiation translated into nuclear bomb tests in their minds," he said.
What now?
Truman said he hopes revelation of the new tests will galvanize Utahns into seeking a full accounting of all tests at Dugway through the years and and an assessment of the risk they posed.
"What else did they do? How much ground is contaminated out there?" he asked. "Maybe it's time that glasnost applied to Dugway and we get an inventory of what all they did do out there."
Morgan said, "I think it's been clearly established that Dugway did many things it knew were dangerous at the time and which we know today could be disastrous."
He added, "Much of this might have been acceptable in a war when you were facing someone like a Hitler . . . But afterwards, the Army was using propaganda more than facts to spend money on its tests."
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Additional Information
RADIATION WEAPONS TEST IN UTAH
Specific radiation weapons tests revealed so far:
Oct. 22, 1949 - (Previously disclosed by U.S. General Accounting Office) A 2,000-pound cluster bomb full of radioactive tantalum metal and the explosive tritonal contaminated an area 0.6 square miles in size at Dugway Proving Ground. Radiation released: not available.
Nov. 30, 1949 - (Previously disclosed by GAO) Another 2,000-pound cluster bomb full of a radioactive tantalum isotope contaminated an area 0.8 square miles in size. Radiation released: not available.
Aug. 3, 1950 - Another cluster bomb with tantalum and TNT was exploded about 800 feet above the ground, after being dropped from 20,000 feet. Designers believed powerful TNT would break up the tantalum into smaller particles that could spread further. Radiation released: 1,500 curies (1,000 times the amount released by the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident).
Aug. 5, 1950 - Another variation of a cluster bomb with tantalum and an explosive called "composition B" was exploded 800 feet above ground. Designers also thought that powerful explosive might also break up tantalum into smaller particles for possibly wider dissemination. Radiation released: 1,500 curies.
Aug. 10-25, 1950 - Four different tests exploded different shapes of radioactive metal to see which would best spread contamination. The best shapes would later be used in cluster bombs. Each test was estimated to release 100 curies of radiation.
Sept. 5, 1950 - (Existence of test previously disclosed, but no details) A cluster bomb filled with tantalum and the explosive tritonal was exploded. It included a "cooling jacket" that "may be required in order to dissipate the large amounts of heat which will be generated in a RW (radiation weapon) munition at megacurie (1 million curie) levels." Designers wanted to see what effect the cooling jacket would have on how much area was contaminated. Radiation released: 1,500 curies.
Sept. 8, 1950 - (Existence of test previously disclosed, but no details) A cluster bomb filled with tantalum and the explosive amatol released 7,500 curies. The amount of radiation was increased so "the operating personnel may gain experience in handling radioactive materials at a level intermediate between the 1,500 curie level of previous tests and teh 30,000 curie level required for the heat transfer studies."
Sept. 11-16, 1950 - Small dust generators that spread radioactive specks were tested in 15 different experiments. Ten disseminated radioactive tantalum pentoxide in unspecified, controlled particle sizes. Three disseminated tantalum pentacholride in uncontrolled sizes. Two disseminated a fused mixture tantalum pentoxide and various compounds of potassium and silicon. Radiation released: not available.
November, 1950 - A "heat transfer" study exploded 30,000 curies of tantalum in a cluster bomb to study "the problem involved in the dissipation of the het generated in an RW (radiation weapon) munition."
1951 - Documents show six tests were planned and approved and scheduled to begin in May. They would test new versions of cluster bombs; smaller spheres that would drop from planes, burst and spread radioactive pellets; and a system to spread radioactive pellets from hoppers in high-altitude aircraft. The U.S. General Accounting Office previously said it had data saying one test was conducted in November, 1952, but had few details about it. Radiation released: not available.
May, 1951 - The GAO said it had information that a radiation weapon test was conducted in that month, but had few details about it. Radiation released: not available.
**Documents obtained by the Deseret News suggest that more than 600 tests may have occurred. The Pentagon said it cannot confirm or deny that without much more research, and said the newspaper's request for such information is in line behind dozens of other requests - so more information may not be coming soon.