___ ·- AEC 907 33 April 221 1968 ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION I R P O R MX 'r i O R MI I if X H G i T E M tf 1 UNDERWATER SEARCH POR WEAPON DEBRIS AT 'Ilf JLE II c -- J e -trfxl Note by the Secretary M - l '· memorandum of April 18 1968 trom the Assistant General Manager tor M111tar Application with attachments be circulated tor consideration b7 the ColllD1as1on at an early Information Meeting AEC 1 The General Manag r bas requested that the attached 2 Related 1ntormat1on 1s contained in AEC 907 28 through 907 32 ' v B McCool DELETED VERSION ONLy DISTRIBUTION Secretary Chairman Seaborg Commissioner Ramey Conmaisaioner Tape Commissioner Johnson Commissioner I General Manager - Deputy Oen Mgr l' Asst Gen Mgr Exec Asst to GM Asst GM for Admin U Asst GM tor IA '' Asst ON for MA r Secretary COPY NO DISTRIBUTION 1 28-33 2 34-36 Asst OM tor Operations 15 Asst OM tor R D _ 16 General Cqunael Biology and Medicine ½A Congr Relations 19-2C Controller 21 Inspection 22 International Atta1rs 23 Military Application 24 Operational Safety 25 Public Information 26 Albuquerque Operations 27 i g 7-8 9 10 11 12 13 14 I I - - tIS J OE_ARCHIVES 826 U S ATOMIC ENERGY RG COMMISSION Colleetlon P o $ e C l ' Bos · 1 o - -aro Folder - -- - - - J_ 107036 - - l - COPY NC UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION WASHINGTON O C aGMI APR 181968 lllll IWU lll oa c BADIU ilAIOllO CXNllSSIOIBI JWaY CCIIIIISIORlll UfB ·CCN1IS11DIII moma ODIRAL NAIUia fl J · SUIJICT I · URISIWA'ED SIAaCII IOll VIA OR maIS Ar 'DI GUINUND The purpoae of thla ·paper la to ·provide bacqrouml for dlacua•ion of·tbe uirabillty of coml ttq an 1111dervater eearch for llla•laa wapcna 'debrla at 'fbule ' 'J be DoD u lntereated tn the coueuu of tba Caaaia■ f 011 regarding tbe de■ lrablllty of an umlervater •••rch IUl lta poe■ lble extent Addltloul inte e•t la auch a effort reflected Article 11 of tbe Gentt n • • Agreemnt reached durina the Danlah U 8 aeetf aa of March 18-19 1 19681 la VuhlQgtOll at vhf ch time it va1 agreed that the 11ueation of a poeliible ••a bottoa •••rch vu to be reaened for further ■ tudy of coeta amt utility by the U s Air Poree and tba re•ulta oC ■uch a ■earch if undertaken would be made available to the ' Danlah ABC In a letter to Dr Waleke dated Harell 26 · 19 8 Nr Bau Koch requ ■tecl that he be informed in advance if a ■•arch u to be made · 0 • I u · - ' - 2 - DELETED ftd variOWI approaches to conducting a search eunder•lce concept was discarded aa uot vithin the curren ca bility of the llaVJ to cooiluct aad the time remaia lag to conduct ••arch operatlone from the lee •urface prior to lee breakup le cou dered inaufficient 'Dle Air Force hu now funded · the RaVJ in the 811CMint of $10 000 for the _purpose of evaJuat lng various concept• of aearch-operatloue which could be conducted after the ice ha ll lted aod the bay ta clear for routine aur ace operat lom 1 he reaul ta of tbe RaVJ • tudy • which ahould addre88 a number of approachea and the related coate are expected to be aubmltted to tbe Air Force · on May 1 1968 In the meantime a group of oceanographer• baa been working at the 'lhule aite in an effort to estimate where· the realdue may logically d_r ift a a reault of current• 'l'hia 1roup la achedul d to brief Dr Walake on April 24 1968 At tld f time tbe A lr Force does not anticipate a very ompllcated eearch aiace the water is relatively ehallov approximatel7 600 feet ·ai moat and the bottom of the bay baa the cbaracterlatlce of a ■mall desert • Conaider lng the fact tbat the · point of entq · into tbe water 18 pinpointed and the terrain to be aearched ·la emooth uae of a towed aonar eled and cloaed circuit TV · appears to be a lc slcal aearc h approach baaed on remarb made by member• of the Air rorce ■taff Once tbe aour has located an object the TV unit 1a moved ill to look aad record on tape what it viewa rhe eetimated ' coet of conducting a aearch employing aonar and a closed circuit ff •canner coupled vlth a photographic capability la $2 500 to $3 000 per day The Rav le preeeatly conducting a aearch of thl a type for loa t alrcr t ill Lake Ontario however• •lnce contract surface veHela ·are being used tbe coet per day le about $4 000• We under etaa d that tbe Cout Guard may be vllling to support the log latic effort since it conducts routine operatlou la the Thule area at the time lee brealcup·occura 'this could ·aerve to reduce 9 he overall coat of a search operation• The ••t•ted coat of using a ·maaaed _submersible aearc vessel •uch u_ the YJ's 1• ry Llllk la about $1 800 per dfi'6EAR Sandi a Corporation bu completed a abidy of tbe accident to develop an eatimated footprint on underwater trajectories which may be useful · in def lnlaa the area for aearch oper tiona The report of the results - 3 - of tlaia effort ·'8 upected to arrlft in lleaclquarter•• prior to April 19 • 1968 Sadia Corporation contrl t•cl •ipificantl7 iD ideatU ina tbe_ •••rch area off faloaar•• Spab - ' be DoD bu COD8UarH tba de•lrabllltJ ·of cOllductba an underwater ••arch 0A tba om bud • •••rch to fl'M•tiou about wbat lliabt be aia11Da1 ad clearl7 a ftZJ uteulv• ••aroh aq be uuucoeHful OD tba other baad evea a brief •••roh alpt flad eaultlw ol •iflecl debria which uother aatloll lliaht recover if ve did aot A -ceuoaable approach MJ be to lat tba extent of tbe rvatar •••rob depend Oil the n1ulta of a brief underwater urvey 1•• ••n •••ob Attacbed an brief 1mmarie• of tbe afforta coaduoted at Palomare• Spain and at Goldaboro North Carolina '1 n a •Giller ·klaadier Ceaaral us u· u utant Gemral Hauger for llilltaZ ' Application Attachanu 1 lalomarH IOlllb leeovaZJ 2 Oold1boro Bomb lecoveZ ' DOE ARCHIVES - 4 - ATTACJ IBNr l PAU MARES BOMB UCOYIRY If Tia• ttaplaah poln of the weapon which vent into the water at Palomar•• va• ev y deteralned by queatlonlng Spaniard• who had ob•erved a large parachute deecendlng into th• The taek of ••arching wa• then taken over by the Havy on or about January 20 1966 ••a• The••• floor eloped gradually for about ·3 ail•• then it vent down at a moderately 1teap elant for about 2 S mlle It then dropped off vary ateeply and ended 1a a vaat aid hole about 6 000 feet down Scuba diver• aearched the eballower parta a cub aubmarine took the •dlum depths and two-maimed underwater craft one called ALVIN and the other called ALtlUNAU't aearched tba deep water The weapon wa• located aome three weeb later by tbe·ALVIR which employed powerful aearch light• coupled witb vieual observation Once the weapon vu located • new unmanned unde aier vehicle the ·cuav v•• used The CURV va• completely automatic with large crab-like piachera TV ca•raa and flood· liahta • A 1uccee1ful hookup vaa made and the bomb waa lifted aboard on' ril 7 1966 80 daya after tba accident • The coat of the Ravy recovery operation vblcb at ita peak involved approxlmat•ly 25 surface veeeela in addition to the previoualy •ntioned underwat r craft waa reported to be about six aill 1011 dollar• DOE ARCHIVES ·' - 5 - AffACHMEtff GOLDSBORO BOMB Z UCOVEllY 'nae--•52 5 ail•• north of Seymour Johnson AFB near Gold• orth Carolina on January 24 1961· lnvolved two bomba The parachute on one of the boml a dep oyed 1 and the bomb landed intact The parachute on • the aecond bomb did no deploy and the bomb la J acted 1n aof t earth Upon impact the prtaary and aecondary broke through the nose of tbe bomb and penetrated further lnto the •oft earth Oa the afternoon of January 24 1961 1 excavation operatlom were blgun but proceeded •lowly due to freezlna weather •urface water ln the hole and care dictated by the preaence of BE The primary wa• recovered from a depth of about O feet on January 30 1961 and excavation operatlou were continue 1n an effort t o recover the aecoadary The Cbalnaan MLC informed the Chairman AEC by letter dated Apr 11 3 1961 that the excavation effort had gone to a depth of t2_feet to form a crater 200 feet la diameter Hovever recovery efforts were complicated by a high water table and although 14 vella bad been drilled ln an effort to control aeepage and the combined output of all pumps waa about 6 000 gallons per hour tbe water could not be controlled the Chairman MLC expreaaed an opinion that a reaaonable effort had been expended toward recovery of the secq nda and further expenditure of funds would not be · Jua lfled The Cammlaaion waa aaked to concur 1n a deterad nation tbat the unrecovered reeidue be conaidered irretriev•bly · loat · · The Commf 11 ion i taff • after analysing the problem from the ' •tandpolnt of aecurlty of Restricted Data coat analyaia and public health and 1afety recoaaended tbat tbe Comaiaaiou -concuc in the propo•al p eaented by the Chairman MLC witb · pr ion that tbe DoD insure that lt retain a right to DOE ARCIDVES ttevent · excavation in the vicini of the point of impact On Nay 22 1961 the Commi aalon concurred in the Chairman MLC rec odatlon and efforta to recover the m1a·a1ng secondary vere termlaated on May 25 1961 · Tbe coat of recovery efforta wae reported •• $63 ooo plus approxi mately $10 000 for aite restoration Excavation and recovery operation■ were accompliahed by the Air Force with the aaa 1 atance of_tba Army Bna 1 neera 6 Attachment 2 si