This book is a revision of "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons" which was issued in 1957. It was prepared by the Defense Atomic Support Agency of the Department of Defense in coordination with other cognizant governmental agencies and was published by the U.S. Atomc Energy Commission. Although the complex nature of nuclear weapons effects does not always allow exact evaluation, the conclusions reached herein represent the combined judgment of a number of the most competent scientists working the problem. There is a need for widespread public understanding of the best information available on the effects of nuclear weapons. The purpose of this book is to present as accurately as possible, within the limits of national security, a comprehensive summary of this information.

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Current data are presented from the HASL Fallout Program, the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Dominion X-Ray and Radium Laboratory in New Zealand. Radionuclide levels in fallout, milk, tap water, diet, and upper air samples are given in tabular form. Also included are interpretive reports and notes dealing with fission product concentrations in the upper atmosphere, cumulative Sr/sup 90/ deposition levels from analyses of soils collected in 1962, and measurements of Cs/sup 137/ in the 1962 wheat crop. The production of and decay schemes for Cd isotopes generated in a high altitude 1962 U. S. nuclear test are covered in a series of three reports. A listing of andnounced nuclear detonations and tables excenpted from published sources on the fission and total yields of nuclear tests precedes a report on inventories of selected radioisotopes from nuclear testing. A bibliography of recent literature pertinent to fallout studies is included. (auth)