Revealing the catastrophic human toll of America's Atomic Age

“For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimension.”

Lao Tzu

 *Writer’s Note: There’s a lot more on this topic which I will cover in my upcoming blogs. I just wanted to share this part of history with you. I have always been fascinated with space exploration. Hope you enjoy it. JP

On April 17, 1970, Apollo 13 successfully splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean, after what Commander James Lovell called a “successful failure,” that is “the safe return of the crew, but the failure to make the lunar landing”. Accompanying Commander Lovell on this mission was John Swigert (Command Module pilot) and Fred Haise (Lunar Module pilot).

Apollo 13 was to be the third manned space mission to land on the moon. However, 56 hours into the mission, an explosion involving oxygen tank #2 in the Service/Command Module occurred at 173,790 nautical miles (almost 200,000 miles) away from earth. The lunar landing was aborted, and the crew was forced to return to earth using the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) “Aquarius” as a lifeboat because of the damage done to the Service Module. The Command Module “Odyssey” was the reentry vehicle used.

The following is from the “Apollo 13 Technical Air–to-Ground Voice Transcript, April, 1970.” The time column is day, hour, minute, and second. CDR is Commander Lovell, CMP-John Swigert, LMP-Fred Haise, and CC is Capsule Communicator.

Pg. 167

02 07 52 58: CC-13, we’ve got one more item for you, when you get a chance. We’d like you to stir up your cryo tanks. In addition, I have shaft and trunnion…

02 07 53 06: CMP-Okay.

02 07 53 07: CC-for looking at the Comet Bennett, if you need it.

02 07 53 12: CMP-Okay. Stand by.

02 07 55 19: LMP-Okay, Houston

02 07 55 20: CDR-I believe we’ve had a problem here.

02 07 55 28: CC-This is Houston. Say again, please.

02 07 55 35: CDR-Houston, we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a MAIN B BUS UNDERVOLT.

Three days later, the extent of the damage was discovered with the jettison of the Service Module:

Pg 728

05 18 04 46: CDR-And there’s one whole side of that spacecraft missing.

05 18 04 50: CC-Is that right?

05 18 04 57: CDR-Right by the – Look out there, will you? Right by the high gain antenna, the whole panel is blown out, almost from the base to the engine.

05 18 05 09: CC-Copy that.

 Three hours later came the LEM jettison and subsequent discussions of its location:

 Pg 757

05 21 29 56: CDR-Five. LM jettison.

05 21 30 05: CC-Okay, copy that. Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.

 Pg 760

05 22 0l 12: CDR-Okay. Fine; thank you Joe. How does the LM look? Are you still tracking it?

05 22 01 17: CC-All I’ve heard was that it’s-that the cabin was holding pressure. I haven’t heard anything more.

 Pg763

05 22 30 50: CC-Okay. At 10 minutes to 400 K, you’re looking good; we’re real happy with the trajectory, and a minute ago, we just lost contact with your friend Aquarius.

05 22 3] 03: CMP-Okay. Where did she go?

05 22 31 07: CC-Oh, I don’t know. She’s up there somewhere.

05 22 31 13: CMP-She sure was a good ship.

05 22 31 16: CC-Hey, just as I said that, we got another burst of LM data, so I guess it’s still ticking.

Apollo 13 Technical Air–to-Ground Voice Transcript, April, 1970

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a13/AS13_TEC.PDF

Aquarius reentered the Earth’s atmospheric and landed in the South Pacific, in the Tonga Trench south of Fiji. The Tonga Trench has an average depth of 20,000 feet.  The Command Module splashed down 201 miles south of Johnston Atoll in the South Pacific, with all three crew members safe.

Apollo 13 Home Page-NASA

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo13info.html

Stowed away on the Lunar Module was a SNAP-27 (Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power), a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG). It was designed to be left on the lunar surface to power experiments left by the crew.

The SNAP-27 contained 3.79 kilograms (8.36 pounds) of Plutonium 238, one of the 15 isotopes of Plutonium, atomic number 94 on the element chart.

The SNAP-27 is designed to operate off of power produced by the natural decay of Plutonium 238. The Pu 238 produces heat, which in turn produces electricity, around 63 watts. Plutonium 238 has a half life of 87.74 years. A half life is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms of the element to decay.*

On page 8 of the Department of Energy’s publication “Nuclear Power in Space”, there’s a picture of astronaut Gordon Bean of the Apollo 12 mission preparing a RTG.

Nuclear Power in Space

http://www.ne.doe.gov/pdfFiles/npInSpace.pdf

*Physical, Nuclear, and Chemical Properties of Plutonium

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)

http://www.ieer.org/fctsheet/pu-props.html

Apollo 13 Lunar Module/ALSEP

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1970-029C

To give you a good explanation of the lunar experiment (Passive Seismic Experiment) and a description of the SNAP-27 unit, I have gathered the following information from the Apollo 13 Press Kit, April 2, 1970:**

Passive Seismic Experiment

The ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) Passive Seismic Experiment (PSE) will measure seismic activity of the Moon and obtain information on the physical properties of the lunar crust and interior. The PSE will detect surface tilt produced by tidal deformations, moonquakes and meteorite impacts. The passive seismometer design and subsequent experiment analysis are the responsibility of Dr. Gary Latham of the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory.

A similar passive seismic experiment was deployed as part of Apollo 12 ALSEP station at Surveyor crater last November and has transmitted earthward lunar surface seismic activities since that time. The Apollo 12 and 13 seismometers differ from the seismometer left at Tranquility Base in July 1969 by the Apollo 11 crew in that they are continuously powered by a SNAP-27 radioisotope electric generator, while the Apollo 11 seismometer was powered by solar energy and could output data only during the lunar day at its location.

SNAP-27

SNAP-27 is one of a series of radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or atomic batteries, developed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission under its SNAP Program. The SNAP (Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power) Program is directed at development of generators and reactors for use in space, on land, and in the sea.

SNAP-27 was first used in the Apollo 12 mission to provide electricity for the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). A duplicate of the Apollo 12 SNAP-27 will power the Apollo 13 ALSEP.

The basic SNAP-27 unit is designed to produce at least 63 electrical watts of power. It is a cylindrical generator fueled with the radioisotope plutonium 238. It is about 18 inches high and 16 inches in diameter, including the heat radiating fins. The generator, making maximum use of the lightweight material beryllium, weighs about 28 pounds unfueled.

The fuel capsule, made of a superalloy material, is 16.5 inches long and 2.5 inches in diameter. It weighs about 15.5 pounds, of which 8.36 pounds represent fuel. The plutonium 238 fuel is fully oxidized and is chemically and biologically inert.

The rugged fuel capsule is contained within a graphite fuel cask from launch through lunar landing. The cask is designed to provide reentry heating protection and added containment for the fuel capsule in the unlikely event of an aborted mission. The cylindrical cask with hemispherical ends includes a primary graphite heat shield, a secondary beryllium thermal shield, and a fuel capsule support structure made of titanium and Inconel materials.

The cask is 23 inches long and eight inches in diameter and weighs about 24.5 pounds. With the fuel capsule installed, it weighs about 40 pounds. It is mounted on the lunar module descent stage by a titanium support structure.

Once the lunar module is on the Moon, the lunar module pilot will remove the fuel capsule from the cask and insert it into the SNAP-27 generator which will be placed on the lunar surface near the module.

The spontaneous radioactive decay of the plutonium 238 within the fuel capsule generates heat into the generator. An assembly of 442 lead telluride thermoelectric elements converts this heat-1480 thermal watts-directly into electrical energy-at least 63 watts. There are no moving parts.

Plutonium 238 is an excellent isotope for the use in space nuclear generator. At the end of almost 90 years, plutonium 238 will still supply half of its original heat. In the decay process, plutonium 238 emits mainly the nuclei of helium (alpha radiation) a very mild type of radiation with a short emission range.

Before the use of the SNAP-27 system in the Apollo program was authorized, a thorough review was conducted to assure the health and safety of personnel involved in the mission and the general public. Extensive safety analyses and tests were conducted which demonstrated that the fuel would be safely contained under almost all creditable accident conditions.

Contractors for the SNAP-27

General Electric Co., Missile and Space Division, Philadelphia, PA, designed, developed, and fabricated the SNAP-27 generator for the ALSEP.

The 3M Co., St. Paul, MN, fabricated the thermoelectric elements and assembled the SNAP-27 generator.

Solar Division of International Harvester, San Diego, CA, fabricated the generator’s beryllium structure.

HITCO, Gardena, CA, fabricated the graphite structure for the SNAP-27 Graphite LM Fuel Cask.

Sandia Corp., a subsidiary of Western Electric, operator of AEC’s Sandal Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM, provided technical direction for the SNAP-27 program.

Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, SC, operated by DuPont Co. for the AEC, prepared the raw plutonium fuel.

Mound Laboratory, Miamisburg, OH, operated by Monsanto Research Corp. for the AEC, fabricated the raw fuel into final fuel form and encapsulated the fuel.

I will provide additional information about several sites listed above (Sandia Corp., Savannah River, and the Mound Laboratory) in upcoming blogs.

**NASA-Apollo 13 Press Kit, April 2, 1970

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-13/docs/apollo-13-press-kit.txt

Nuclear Power on the Moon-Apollo 12

http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull121/12104700912.pdf

Will NASA ever recover Apollo 13’s Plutonium from the Sea?

Matthew Van Dusen, November 28, 2011

http://www.txchnologist.com/2011/will-nasa-ever-recover-apollo-13s-plutonium-from-the-sea

Peace,

JP

Without the oceans there would be no life on Earth.-Peter Benchley

Located 30 miles west of San Francisco, California are the Farallon Islands, and the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge.

In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt declared this area a National Wildlife Refuge. President Roosevelt was one of this nation’s greatest conservationists, with the establishment of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the United States Forest Service, and the National Park Systems, just to name a few.

There have been 36 marine mammal species observed at the Gulf of the Farallones sanctuary including seals and sea lions, whales, dolphins, porpoises, and otters.  There are more than 160 species of seabirds that use the sanctuary for shelter, food or as a migration corridor. (1)

Farallon National Wildlife Refuge

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=81641

The Farallon Islands-“California’s Galapagos”

http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/the-farallon-islands-californias-galapagos/

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/

Just to the south of the Farallon Islands between 1946 and 1970, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), authorized the dumping of 47,500 drums of radioactive waste. There were three types of “materials” that were permitted to be dumped into the ocean:

• By-product materials-refer to a wide variety of substances which were exposed to incidental radiation
• Source materials-included Uranium and Thorium
• Special nuclear materials-included Plutonium, Uranium-233, enriched Uranium-235, and any other materials which the AEC may have determined to be special nuclear materials. (2)

In 1972, Congress passed the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act prohibiting dumping of wastes into sanctuary waters. In 1973, the U.S. ratified the 1972 London Convention, prohibiting, among other things, the ocean disposal of high level nuclear wastes and allowing for future dumping of low-level radioactive wastes only under controlled conditions stipulated by the Convention.

Sea disposal of radioactive wastes: The London Convention 1972 IAEA Bulletin, February, 1994

http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull362/36205981216.pdf

Summary of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act

http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/mprsa.html

Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988

http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/mprsa/02.html

 (1) Gulf of the Farallones, Condition Report 2010 (The only mention of the waste site is found on page 66 of this report):

http://farallones.noaa.gov/science/pdf/V9_GF_CR_LowResolution.pdf

History of Dumpsite Use

“Most of the dumpsite was generated by three Atomic Energy Commission contractors: The U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco, The University of California Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, and The University of California Radiation Laboratory at Berkley. The radioactive waste disposal operations were carried out by the U.S. Navy until July, 1959 when private companies assumed the responsibility under AEC license.”

“The dumpsite consisted of three sites, all using 55 gallons steel drums. Site 1: estimated 150 containers @ 50 fathoms (300 feet), Site 2: 3,600 containers @ 500 fathoms, Site 3: 44,000 @ 1,000 fathoms.”

1 fathom = 1.8288 meters (6 feet)

EPA Operations Report: A Survey of the Farallon Islands 500-Fathom Radioactive Waste Disposal Site, December, 1975

(You will need to Google “EPA Operations Report: A Survey of the Farallon Islands 500-Fathom Radioactive Waste Disposal Site, December, 1975” because the URL is extremely long. Sorry about this)

Farallon Nuclear Waste Dumping Map

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farallon_nuclear_waste_dumping.png

It is also believed that the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-22) was scuttled over the continental slope west of the Farallon Islands on January 29, 1951. The Independence was a target ship used during Operation Crossroads, the first series of atomic bomb testing out at Bikini Atoll on July 1, 1946 (Shot Able) and on July 25, 1946 (Shot Baker). The Independence survived both tests, and was sent to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco to be studied and used as a laboratory at the newly created Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. “The carrier itself was clearly “hot” when it went down. It had been used as an atomic bomb target and a nuclear laboratory, and it was packed full of fresh fission products and other radiological waste at the time it sank.”(*)

USS Independence (CV-22)

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/22.htm

http://wikimapia.org/15868488/Wreck-of-USS-Independence-CVL-22

 (*) This is a fantastic article written by Lisa Davis of the SF Weekly on the Farallon Islands Nuclear Waste Site, the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, and the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

Fallout by Lisa Davis May 9, 2001

http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-05-09/news/fallout/

I haven’t been able to find any information of any kind on monitoring of the waste by any US Government agency. It is argued that it would be best just to leave it where it is.

The Farallon Islands are not the only area off our coastlines that had the misfortune of becoming a radioactive waste dump site.

The following is from the EPA report “Fact Sheet on Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Waste Materials-November 20, 1980. 

History OF Dumping Operations

On the basis of the information EPA has gathered to date, the following are salient points in the history of U.S. ocean dumping of radioactive materials. A tabular summary of the designated dump sites follows this list.

• Between 1946 and 1970 the ocean dumping of radioactive wastes was conducted under the licensing authority and direction of the Atomic Energy Commission;
• In 1960, the AEC imposed a moratorium on the issuance of new dumping licenses, allowing existing licenses to remain in force and to be renewed;
• By 1963 most ocean dumping activities had been phased out, and in 1970, the U.S. terminated all ocean dumping of radioactive waste materials;
• In 1973, the U.S. ratified the 1972 London Dumping Convention, prohibiting, among other things, the ocean disposal of high level nuclear wastes and allowing for future dumping of low-level radioactive wastes only under controlled conditions stipulated by the Convention;
• From 1946 thru 1962 (two years after the license moratorium), the U.S. dumped a total of approximately 89,400 containers with an estimated inventory of 94,000 curies (Ci) of radioactivity;
• Between 1963 and 1970 (when all dumping was terminated), the U.S. dumped only 350 containers with an estimated total activity of about 230 curies;
• The Farallon Island Sites (collectively) received approximately 99 percent of the radioactivity dumped in the Pacific Ocean;
• The Atlantic 2800 Meter Sites received approximately 96 percent of all radioactivity dumped in the Atlantic.

There are 18 sites located in the Pacific Ocean, 8 in the Atlantic Ocean, and 2 in the Gulf of Mexico. The following list is just some of the sites:

Pacific Sites

25-60 miles WSW of San Francisco   20 miles NE of Honolulu

300 miles N of Midway Islands           35 miles SW of Port Hueneme

230 miles W of OR/CA border            190 miles NW of OR/CA border

35 miles W of OR/CA border           1000 miles WSW of Los Angeles

800 miles SW of San Diego                  225 miles SW of San Diego

800 miles WNW of San Francisco     350 miles NW of Cape Flattery

Atlantic Sites

Massachusetts Bay                            80 miles E of Cape Henry

140 miles SE of Sandy Hook         220 miles SE of Sandy Hook

220 miles E of Charleston               15 miles S of Morehead City

Off coast of Sapelo Islands

Gulf of Mexico

170 miles S of New Orleans

250 miles SE of Apalachicola, Florida

 (2) Fact Sheet on Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Waste Materials, EPA, November 20, 1980

(Once again, you will need to Google “Fact Sheet on Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Waste Materials”  because the URL is extremely long.)

I found the following document from the FUSRAP Considered Sites, Navy Ammunitions Depot-Earle, New Jersey site. It is an office memorandum dated August 16, 1949, and discusses the “purpose of advising the Navy on radiation hazards involved in the dumping of contaminated AEC wastes at sea.”

Navy Ammunition Depot, Earle, New Jersey (Click on Document NJ.15-1)

http://www.lm.doe.gov/Considered_Sites/Navy_Ammunition_Depot_-_NJ_15.aspx

Document NJ.15-2,

Page 8-Naval Ammunition Depot-Red Bank, New Jersey

Collection point for unserviceable contaminated drums and scrap (radioactive) for sea disposal-late 1940’s and early 1950’s)

Ocean disposal of radioactive waste: Status report, IAEA, 4/1989

http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull314/31404684750.pdf

Storage and Disposal Options for Radioactive Waste

http://world-nuclear.org/info/inf04ap2.html

Also off the coast of California, the AEC and the Department of Defense conducted 2 underwater nuclear tests.

The first was Operation Wigwam on May 14, 1955, located 500 miles SW of San Diego (29 Deg N, 126 Deg W). It was detonated at a depth of 2000 feet and its yield was 30 kilotons. This was the Betty Mk-90 ASW (Anti-submarine Warfare) depth bomb warhead (B-7, listed under the W-7). There were 225 of these weapons manufactured between 1955 and 1960.

The second test was Operation Dominic-Swordfish on May 11, 1962, 460 miles west of San Diego, (31.24500 LAT -124.21170 Long) and was detonated at 650 feet deep. This was a full scale test of the RUR-5 Anti-Submarine ROCket (ASROC) and was fired from the destroyer USS Agerholm (DD-826) at a range of 4,348 yards. Its yield was 18 kilotons. This was a W-44 plutonium implosion warhead, and there were 575 of these manufactured between May, 1961 and March, 1968.

Nuclear Weapon Archives

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/index.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html

This is a US Navy documented film on Operation Swordfish. Audio is not the greatest.

1962 ASROC Navy Nuclear Tests from USS Agerholm DD826

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV5q_mlhaiM

Nuclear waste isn’t the only thing that the United States has dumped in the oceans. Arsenic Trichloride, Hydrogen Cyanide, Lewisite, Mustard Gas, Nerve Gas, Phosgene, and White Phosphorus are some of the “64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents and 400,000 chemical-filled bombs that were dumped at 26 sites off the coasts of our country.”*

The Deep Sea News post “Munitions Dumping at Sea”, by CR McClain, June 11, 2007, gives you an idea as to where some of these sites are located.

http://scienceblogs.com/deepseanews/2007/06/munitions_dumping_at_sea.php

*The Deadliness Below- John M.R. Bull-The Daily Press

(From the Berkley Radiological Air and Water Monitoring Forum)

http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/forum/218/deadliness-belowweapons-mass-destruction-thrown-sea-years-ago-present-danger-now-and-army-

Historic Disposal of Military Munitions in US Coastal Waters, February, 2009

http://www.slideshare.net/glcarton/2009-feb-17-overview-of-historic-dod-sea-disposal-mod

Chemical Weapons Movement History Compilation, William R. Brankowitz, April 27, 1987

http://www.epa.gov/region04/foia/readingroom/camp_lejeune/trianadoc21a.pdf

Operation CHASE (Cut Holes and Sink ‘Em) stated on Page 9, 10

 Peace,

JP

Histories of ages past

Hung in light and shadows cast

Down through all eternity

The crying of humanity

Donovan