The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters

One of 25 reports in the series: Operation Plumbbob available on this site.
Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Showing 1-4 of 27 pages in this report.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Description

A cage containing 20 mice was placed in each of 12 underground shelters in an attempt to assess biologically the inside environment of the shelters. Two samples of 20 mice each acted as controls. The structures, of French and German design, were located at ranges between 840 ft and 4320 ft from Ground Zero. A nuclear device was exploded atop a 700-ft tower and had a yield of 43 kt. All but one group of mice were recovered on D + 2 days. Aside from two samples placed in unrealistic locations, all animals were alive at recovery. With one exception, … continued below

Physical Description

24 pages

Creation Information

Richmond, D. R.; White, C. S.; Sanchez, R. T. & Sherping, F. September 1, 1959.

Context

This report is part of the collection entitled: Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports and was provided by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department to the UNT Digital Library, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 120 times. More information about this report can be viewed below.

Who

People and organizations associated with either the creation of this report or its content.

Authors

Sponsor

Publisher

Provided By

UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

Serving as both a federal and a state depository library, the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department maintains millions of items in a variety of formats. The department is a member of the FDLP Content Partnerships Program and an Affiliated Archive of the National Archives.

About | Browse this Partner

Contact Us

Corrections Questions

What

Descriptive information to help identify this report. Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.

Titles

  • Main Title: The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters
  • Series Title: Operation Plumbbob

Description

A cage containing 20 mice was placed in each of 12 underground shelters in an attempt to assess biologically the inside environment of the shelters. Two samples of 20 mice each acted as controls. The structures, of French and German design, were located at ranges between 840 ft and 4320 ft from Ground Zero. A nuclear device was exploded atop a 700-ft tower and had a yield of 43 kt. All but one group of mice were recovered on D + 2 days. Aside from two samples placed in unrealistic locations, all animals were alive at recovery. With one exception, the peak pressures in the chambers that contained mice were insignificant, ranging from a fraction of 1 psi to 1.6 psi. The one high pressure of 14.4 psi did not kill any of the mice. According to the film-badge dosimeters, one group of mice received 190 r of gamma radiation. The others were exposed to 54 r of gamma or less. The mice were observed for a 60-day postshot period. The deaths that occurred were attributed to a Salmonella infection in the animal colony and not to radiation. Although the gamma radiation doses that most of the animal groups received were low, the levels that existed in the main chambers near the entry doors of the German shelters were over 100 r, a biolog ically significant dose. In constrast, the environment within two of the French shelters appeared to be quite acceptable. (auth)

Physical Description

24 pages

Notes

NTIS

Project 33.6 of OPERATION PLUMBBOB. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-60

Language

Item Type

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this report in the Digital Library or other systems.

Collections

This report is part of the following collection of related materials.

Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports

Reports, articles and other documents harvested from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information.

Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is the Department of Energy (DOE) office that collects, preserves, and disseminates DOE-sponsored research and development (R&D) results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions.

About | Browse this Collection

What responsibilities do I have when using this report?

Digital Files

When

Dates and time periods associated with this report.

Creation Date

  • September 1, 1959

Added to The UNT Digital Library

  • Sept. 16, 2016, 12:32 a.m.

Description Last Updated

  • July 24, 2025, 7 p.m.

Usage Statistics

When was this report last used?

Yesterday: 0
Past 30 days: 2
Total Uses: 120
More Statistics

Interact With This Report

Here are some suggestions for what to do next.

Start Reading

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters'.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Citations, Rights, Re-Use

International Image Interoperability Framework

IIF Logo

We support the IIIF Presentation API

Links for Robots

Helpful links in machine-readable formats.

Archival Resource Key (ARK)

International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)

Metadata Formats

Images

URLs

Stats

Richmond, D. R.; White, C. S.; Sanchez, R. T. & Sherping, F. The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast. Ii. Effects on Mice Located in Heavy Concrete Shelters, report, September 1, 1959; Albuquerque, New Mexico. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc863287/: accessed October 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.

Back to Top of Screen