EVALUATION OF EYE HAZARDS FROM NUCLEAR DETONATIONS
Abstract
The retinal exposure equation, from which safe separation distances were calculated, was used as a basis for developing a linearized equation. New scaling laws for the spectral power and fireball radiance were also developed. These equations were used in deriving a variance equation for the safe separation distance. This equation is expressed in terms of variances of the independent variables: retinal exposure, time of irradiation, yield, observer and burst altitude. The importance of retinal irradiance at the time of cutoff (as effected by blinking or introduction of other shielding) is demonstrated by an analysis of the coefficients in the variance equation, supported by a limited set of calculations. Retinal irradiance is affected by variations in the f- number of the eye and pulse profile of the fireball. The largest variances occur when the cutoff time is near a radiance maximum (approximately a thermal maximum). Small increases in the variance are realized with increased differences in the vertical separation of observer and fireball, but these appear to be of importance only with very low yield weapons.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0713152
Entities
People
- James A. Nickel