Effects of radiation

A true measure of exposure

The Harry K. Daghlian Accident
Who is Harry
Daghlian?
He was an Armenian-American physicist with
the Manhattan Project who
accidentally irradiated himself on August 21, 1945,
during a critical mass experiment at the remote
Omega Site facility at Los Alamos National
Laboratory in New Mexico, resulting in his death 26
days later.


Who is Harry
Daghlian?


Daghlian was irradiated as a result of a criticality
accident that occurred when he accidentally dropped
a tungsten carbide brick onto a 6.2 kg delta phase
plutonium bomb core, and later nicknamed the
"Demon core", also resulted in the death of Louis
Slotin in a similar accident.
The Demon Core

The sphere
of plutonium surrounded by
neutron-reflecting tungsten
carbide blocks in a re-
enactment of Harry
Daghlian's 1945 experiment.
90 minutes after the exposure:
He experienced immediate hand swelling and
numbness when he first arrived at the hospital.
Overwhelming and unrelenting nausea.
24 hours after the exposure:
Daghlian suffered from severe nausea and repeated
bouts of retching and vomiting, at times continuously.
The nausea persisted throughout the second day, but
without vomiting; instead, he now had to endure
prolonged episodes of hiccups. After these initial two
days, his appetite returned and he was able to eat well;
however, other symptoms soon became apparent.
36hrs. after the exposure:
A small blister had appeared on the ring finger of
his right hand.
The nailbeds had taken on a bluish hue, indicating
poor circulation.
Within a day's time, numerous blisters had
developed on the palm and back of the hand, as
well as between the fingers, which increased
rapidly in size and became painfully distended with
fluid.
36hrs. after the exposure:
Also, the skin of the left hand and abdomen began to
redden (erythema). For relieving pain and increasing
circulation and manual flexibility to the right hand,
Daghlian's primary attending physicians at Los Alamos
Hospital decided on the third day to perform a
paravertebral block on the right side and to open the
blisters and remove the necrotic skin (dbridement)
under general anesthesia; the wounds were then
covered with Vaseline gauze and a pressure dressing.
Day 4 after the exposure:
the entire right hand continued to blister and
had developed an intense blue-purple color.
Codeine and morphine were given to control
the pain, which had also increased
substantially; however, these drugs provided
only partial relief, and the hands were further
numbed by chilling with ice packs.
Day 9 after the exposure:
From this point on, injuries to the right hand
would prove to be the forerunner for a complex
spectrum of symptoms resulting from extensive
radiation-induced damage to Daghlian's body.
The extent of damage to the skin and internal
organs became more ominous as reddening
advanced up the inside surfaces of both
forearms and now included the neck and face,
resulting in a progressive loss of skin layers
(desquamation) over these areas.
Day 9 after the exposure:
Daghlians Right Hand
Day 10 after the exposure:
Daghlian experienced nausea and abdominal
pain after eating.
On examination, his abdomen was found to be
distended and painful when palpated.

Day 12 after the exposure:
From day 12 onward, however, he suffered
from constant diarrhea.
Day 15 after the exposure:
After receiving a blood transfusion and intravenous
fluids on day 15, Daghlian became pale and his skin
felt cold and clammy, in spite of a rectal temperature
of 105
o
F.
Due to his apprehension, his respiration rate became
rapid and shallow, and his blood pressure plummeted
to 70/50.
Rapid heart beat (tachycardia) of 250 beats/minute.
Death
He became irrational and slipped into a coma on the final day of
his life. Daghlian died at 4:30 PM on Saturday, 15 September,
1945; he had survived almost 26 days after the accident at
Omega.
By the end, his appearance had changed dramatically because of
a significant weight loss that had started on day 6 and had
increasingly worsened.
In addition, all of the epidermis of the abdomen and lower chest
had been lost, as well as the hair from his upper chest, beard and
temples (epilation).
Radiation Dose
Daghlian received a total-body radiation exposure of
approximately 480 roentgens (the unit of measurement for
ionizing radiation) of soft x-rays and 110 roentgens of gamma
rays. Because of the way the accident happened, though, the
distribution of radiation wasn't uniform. His left hand, which
dropped the brick, received 5,000 to 15,000 rem (roentgen
equivalent in man, the unit of measurement for a radiation
dose), and his right hand, which he used to push the brick
away, received 20,000 to 40,000 rem.


Memorial