MILITARY THOUGHT: ON THE PROBLEM OF APPRAISING THE RADIATION SITUATION, BY COLONEL F. MALYSHKO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A029700910001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: MEMO

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On the Problem of Appraising the Radiation Situation
by
Colonel F. Malyshko
The appraisal of the radiation situation has now be-
come customary in the work of commanders and staffs and is.
one of the most important factors essential to decision
making.=But for this, it is necessary to receive the
following initial information: time, coordinates and type
of burst, the level of TNT equivalent of the weapon and
the direction and velocity of the.: average high-altitude Wind.
In the initial period of a war, not having sufficient
experience, troops will encounter serious difficulties in
receiving and quickly formulating the above-mentioned data.
This complex task, until the development and adoption of
specialized instruments, will be accomplished with available
means rather approximately, and by many subunits, visually.
In this process, substantial errors on the part of re-
connaissance personnel and observers are possible. In order
to preclude mistakes and to guarantee timely receipt of
accurate initial information, it is necessary to devise a
methodology for their determination. It is advisable to
prepare, also, a group of tasks with the aim of training
personnel in determining the coordinates of and, especially,
the type and yield of nuclear bursts. In all exercises,
also, such tasks should be assigned to appropriate subunits,
and a timely report from them to the commanders and staffs
should be required. 50X1-HUM
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In the initial period of a war, it is extremely diffi-
cult for reconnaissance personnel and observers to ascertain
the yield of a nuclear burst. It seems to us that the
simplest method is to determine the yield of the burst with
radar sets and optical instruments by the size, speed and al-
titilde of ascent.,bf the radioactive cloud, or even by its
upper edge, since for each yield nuclear weapon there is a
corresponding specific altitude of ascent of the radio-
active cloud. Thus, for example, for nuclear weapon yields
of 2, 5, 20, 50, 100, 200, or 500 kt, and 1 mgt., the alti-
tude of ascent of the upper edge of the radioactive cloud
is 5, 7,' 10, 12, 14, 16, 19 and 21 km., respectively.
These or more complete data can be plotted in the
free fields of radar sets, and on optical instruments, in
order that they may always be before the eyes of the ob-
servers. This simple improvement will considerably facilitate
the training of observers in estimating the yield of nuclear
bursts. The experience of visual determination of the
initial data indicates that it is indispensable, and with
the adoption of specialized instruments, it will be effectively
used by subunits for taking timely protective measures against
a nuclear weapon until the receipt of more precise data.
The evolution of a radioactive cloud in a given area
and the subsequent fallout of radioactive particles on
the terrain from nuclear weapons of different yields will de-
pend on the altitude of varying directions and velocities of
wind. Therefore, having at a given time the velocities and
directions of high-altitude winds, it is necessary with the
burst of a nuclear weapon of a particular yield to determine
the corresponding altitude of ascent of the radioactive cloud,
the average high-altitude wind, and the direction of the
diffusion of radioactive particles on the terrain. It is ad-
visable to use this principle in the determination of the
direction of diffusion of radioactive particles from our own
surface nuclear bursts of different yields, in order to en-0X1-HUM
sure the safety of the activities of our troops. It some-
what complicates the plotting on a map and the appraisal of
the radiation situation, but at the same time it permits a more
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accurate estimate than when we take only a single direction
and velocity of the average wind for all yields of nuclear 50X1-HUM
weapons.
Plotting the radiation situation on a map is. a laborious
and prolonged process. In order to simplify it and speed it
up in the staffs, a large quantity of different templates
have been produced. The Textbook* supports preparing 46
templates for plotting the zone of radioactive contamination
on small-scale maps, and an additional 50-60 templates for
work on larger-scale maps. Moreover, it should be considered
that templates alone are not enough; Tables** also are needed.
All this greatly hampers the plotting of the radiation
situation, especially under field conditions, while accuracy
in its plotting remains doubly relevant.
The path of a radioactive cloud only in general resembles
the shape of an ellipse, deviating greatly from its proper
form. The configuration of the zone of contamination actually
depends on many factors. Therefore, the isolines connecting
equal levels of radiation will be irregular, differing
markedly from those lines which are drawn according to the
templates, thereby consuming a great deal of time.
In our view, it is necessary to plot the zones of radio-
active contamination at four points, taken from the afore-
mentioned official Tables, joining these points with wavy
lines, taking into account ground relief, terrain features,
and the directions of the surface layer wind. This method
will considerably simplify and expedite the plotting of the
radiation situation. Moreover, the shape of the zones of
radioactive contamination on the maps will conform more closely
to their true configurations on the terrain.
For practical work, in our opinion, it is fully sufficient
* Methodology of Appraising the Radiation Situation in the
Case of the Massed Employment of Nuclear Weapons and Some
Problems in Protecting Troops Operating in Contaminated Terrain.
Moscow. Voyenizdat, 1960.
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** Tables for the Appraisal of Radioactive Contamination of
Terrain with Atomic Bursts. Moscow. Voyenizdat, 1960.
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to lay out on one sheet three tables on which to show in-
formation pertinent to the principal yields of nuclear wea-
pons, taking into consideration three,?. wind velocities: 30,
50 and 70 km. per hour. On the other side of the sheet it is
advisable to put tables No. 1 and 3 from the referenced Text
on methodology of appraising the radiation situation. This
permits one to have all the material necessary for plotting
and appraising the radiation situation on one sheet and
eliminates the use of the cumbersome book of Tables.
In the method suggested by us in the table, it is
sufficient to show the nearest and farthest boundaries of
contamination by radioactive particles for corresponding
levels of radiation on the large axis of an ellipse. The
width of the zone of contamination will be determined with-
out difficulty by the two other points as 1/6 of the length
of the ellipse. The characteristics of the furthest drop
in the level of radiation, shown in the Tables, may be lo-
cated on a map with a dosage ruler (DL-1). The four points
for each level of radiation of interest to us which have
thus been plotted on a map must be joined by hand by straight
or wavy lines, depending on the ground relief and the direction
of the local winds. From this process there results an
approximate representation of the sector of contamination.
The levels of radiation in the zone of contamination should
be more precisely defined by aerial and ground radiation
reconnaissance.
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