Posts Tagged ‘hazwoper’
Radiation Control at a Nuclear Reactor 1954 Chalk River Canada
This clip shows ways of controlling the spread of radiological contamination. Passing from zone to zone involved a good deal of body work, registering the levels on personal dosimeters by inserting them into a pad reader, on the way in changing clothing, collecting and calibrating instruments, assembling the materials needed for the job plan, on the way out carefully disrobing, pulling off each garment inside out to contain contaminants, washing down and bundling any equipment which had to be removed for repair so as to not leave a trail of contamination along the route to the shop. Many of these control ideas have evolved into the procedures used at today at the clean-up of contaminated sites such as the US Superfund Program under OSHA’s Hazwoper worker protection regulation. This is clipped from the 1954 episode Hidden Power, from the On the Spot television series from the 1950s. The episode is a visit to the Chalk River NRX Canadian atomic energy plant, showing research in the peacetime application of nuclear energy. At the time of its construction it was Canada’s most expensive science facility and the world’s most powerful nuclear research reactor. NRX experienced one of the world’s first major reactor accidents in December 1952 when the NRX reactor underwent a violent power excursion that destroyed the core of the reactor, causing some fuel melting. Unaccountably, the shut-off rods failed to fully descend into the core. A series of hydrogen gas explosions (or steam explosions) hurled the four-ton gasholder dome four feet through the air where it jammed in the superstructure. Thousands of curies of fission products were released into the atmosphere, and a million gallons of radioactively contaminated water had to be pumped out of the basement and “disposed of” in shallow trenches not far from the Ottawa River. The core of the NRX reactor could not be decontaminated; it had to be buried as radioactive waste. Young Jimmy Carter — later U.S. President, then a nuclear engineer in the U.S. Navy — was among the hundreds of Canadian and American servicemen who were ordered to participate in the NRX cleanup following the accident. Five years later, in 1958, several metallic uranium fuel rods in the nearby NRU reactor overheated and ruptured inside the reactor core. One of the damaged rods caught fire and was torn in two as it was being removed from the core by a robotic crane. As the remote-controlled crane passed overhead, carrying the larger portion of the damaged rod, a three-foot length of fiercely burning uranium fuel broke off and fell into a shallow maintenance pit. The burning fuel lay there, spreading deadly fission products and alpha-emitting particles throughout the reactor building. The ventilation system was jammed in the “open” position, thereby contaminating the accessible areas of the building as well as a sizable area downwind from the reactor site. A relay team of scientists and technicians eventually extinguished the fire by running past the maintenance pit at top speed wearing full protective gear, dumping buckets of wet sand on the burning uranium fuel. Over a thousand men were involved in the cleanup operations following these two accidents. More than 600 men were required for the NRU cleanup alone. Official AECL reports stress that very few of these men were over-exposed to radiation — that is, most of the recorded radiation doses did not exceed the levels that were considered permissible for atomic workers at that time. The reports also imply that no adverse health effects were caused by the exposures received. However, no medical follow-up has ever been done to see whether the population of men involved exhibited a higher-than-normal incidence of cancer later in life. For more on these events, go to the website of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility at http://www.ccnr.org/paulson_legacy.html. The entire film is available at the US National Archive in College Park, Maryland and describes NRX, the atomic reactor, and shows investigations of the production of radioactive isotopes and their use in such fields as industry, medicine and forestry. NRX was a heavy water moderated, light water cooled, nuclear research reactor at the Canadian Chalk River Laboratories, which came into operation in 1947. The NRX operated for 45 years, being shut down permanently in 1993. It is currently undergoing decommissioning at the Chalk River Laboratories site.
Duration : 0:0:50
Nerve Agent Types GA GB V 1963
First discovered accidentally during the 1930s by industrial chemists in Germany conducting pesticide research, the nerve agents Tabun (GA) and Sarin (GB) were developed into chemical weapons and stockpiled by the Nazi regime. After the war, the victorious Allies competed among themselves for the secrets of the Nazi nerve agent program. In the early 1950s, British industrial scientists accidentally discovered a second generation of nerve agents that were even more toxic than Sarin and were dubbed “V agents” because of their venomous (skin-penetrating) properties. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union pursued a chemical arms race in which they produced and stockpiled various nerve agents in the thousands of tons. For a detailed history for the general reader of the discovery, development, proliferation, and control of nerve agents such as Tabun, Sarin, Soman, and VX, read the 2006 book, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, By Jonathan B. Tucker. During the 1960s, ocean dumping, open pit burning, and land burials were the U.S. Armys method of destroying chemical weapons. In 1969, the National Academy of Sciences recommended that ocean dumping be avoided. In the late 1960s President Nixon halts the production of chemical weapons. In 1972, the Army formed the U.S. Army Materiel Commands Program Manager for Demilitarization of Chemical Materiel, headquartered at Picatinny Arsenal, near Dover, NJ. The Army developed chemical weapons disposal methods using incineration and chemical neutralization. Project Eagle incinerates six million pounds of mustard agent and neutralizes eight million pounds of nerve agent GB (sarin) at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colo. between 1972 and 1976. Today, The U.S. Army’s Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) safely stores and destroys the nation’s aging chemical weapons and recovers the nation’s chemical warfare materials. The agency is based at the Edgewood Area of the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, while other managers and staff fulfill the agency’s mission from weapons storage and disposal at locations across the county. For more on the CMA, link to their website at http://www.cma.army.mil/home.aspx . This clip is from the 1963 film, Nerve Agents, available at the national Archives. The film is from the U. S. Army Training Film series on the features and tactical use of GA (tabun), GB (sarin), and V-class nerve agents as munitions for chemical warfare. Explains how the nerve gas agents enter the human body and the symptoms of poisoning, and shows the protective and first-aid measures that may be taken against them.
Duration : 0:1:0
Air Testing for Nerve Agents 1963
In the 1950s, the US began developing detection and warning systems for chemical warfare agents (CWAs). The early detection kits significantly improved a soldiers ability to detect the presence of CWAs. However, it soon became apparent that they were difficult to use under battlefield conditions. Each kit contained breakable components and the procedures required to conduct the various tests were difficult to accomplish while wearing protective gear. In 1968, the US military developed the M8 Portable Automatic Chemical Agent Alarm, the first mass-produced field detector for nerve agents. This was a significant accomplishment in chemical defense and this new fielded technology corrected a major deficiency that had made U.S. soldiers vulnerable to a surprise nerve agent attack. This is clipped from the 1963 film, Nerve Agents, available at the US National Archives. The film is from the U. S. Army Training Film series on the features and tactical use of GA (tabun), GB (sarin), and V-class nerve agents as munitions for chemical warfare. Explains how the nerve gas agents enter the human body and the symptoms of poisoning, and shows the protective and first-aid measures that may be taken against them.
Duration : 0:2:7
Rabbits Used as Monitors for Chemical Warfare Nerve Agents 1971 US Army
Nerve agents are essentially odorless and are deadly at low concentrations, so a quick and accurate detection method was required. The method selected was biological monitoring. Rabbits, which were found to be very susceptible to the nerve agents, were placed in the vicinity of the weapons. This method continued in use during transportation until 1969, and at some storage installations into the early 1980’s. This is clipped from the 1971 US Army film, Operation Red Hat: Men and a Mission. In July of 1969, 23 U.S. servicemen and one U.S. civilian stationed in Okinawa, Japan, were hospitalized after being exposed to low levels of the nerve agent sarin while repainting the military depot buildings. The weapons had been kept secret from Japan, sparking a furor in that country, an international incident and the creation of Operation Red Hat. The army had announced that the chemical weapons on Okinawa would be moved to Umatilla Army Depot in Oregon. This triggered a series of lawsuits that attracted the concern of Congress. The next year, Public Law 91-672 was enacted, which prohibited the army from moving the weapons from Okinawa to anywhere on the U.S. mainland. Operation Red Hat moved the stockpile on Okinawa to Johnston Atoll, a small U.S. island in the South Pacific, for long-term storage and eventual demilitarization. The initial phase of Operation Red Hat involved the movement of chemical munitions from a depot storage site to Tengan Pier, eight miles away, and required 1,332 trailers in 148 convoys. The second phase of the operation moved the munitions to Johnston Atoll. For more information on chemical munitions storage and destruction on Johnston Atoll, go to http://www.cma.army.mil/johnston.aspx . For more on the history of chemical agent detection, go to http://www.ecbc.army.mil/about/history.htm#1920. The entire 1971 film, Operation Red Hat: Men and a Mission, is available at the Internet Archive.
Duration : 0:0:18
Post Emergency Response Radiation Incident 1961
This clip shows the post-emergency response to this radiation accident. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.
Duration : 0:3:5
Radioactive Fallout 1964
For more information about the dangers from above ground nuclear explosions, check the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/radiation/rert/nuclearblast.html . Fallout typically contains hundreds of different radionuclides. Some of these persist in the environment for a long time because they have relatively long half-lives. Some have very short half-lives and persist in the environment for only a few minutes or a few years. Some produce high levels of radiation. Both long-lived and highly radioactive materials pose potential human health and environmental risks. For a history of and details about the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, go to: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/Nuclear+Test+Ban+Treaty.htm . This is clipped from a 1964 Johnson presidential campaign commercial.
Duration : 0:0:38
Environmental Cleanup Radiation 1961 AEC
Environmental cleanup of radiation after the SL-1 nuclear reactor accident in 1961. Before Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, there was the SL-1 nuclear accident, the only fatal reactor accident in the United States. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.
Duration : 0:0:48
Nuclear Reactor Incident Initial Emergency Response 1961
This clip shows the initial emergency response to this nuclear reactor accident. Before Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, there was the 1961 SL-1 nuclear accident, the only fatal reactor accident in the United States. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.
Duration : 0:7:50
Victim Recovery Post Emergency Response SL1 Incident 1961
This clip shows the post-emergency response to this radiation accident to recover bodies of the two workers killed. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.
Duration : 0:5:18
Decontamination After a Chemical Warfare Attack, 1943
Preparing for a chemical attack is not new. This clip shows community preparedness during the early days of World War II, 1943. This was taken from the US government film, What to Do in A Gas Attack. The entire film is available at the Internet Archives at http://www.archive.org/details/WhattoDo1943.
Duration : 0:1:16