Computer for radioactive fallout

A special-purpose computer that gives the geographical fallout pattern of radioactivity resulting from a nuclear explosion has been developed by the National Bureau of Standards. Given the necessary weather data together with certain information about the bomb, this analogue computer will assist in predicting what the distribution and intensity of radioactivity will be on the ground after the bomb has been detonated. Problem solution is displayed on a cathode ray tube, over which amap on a transparent backing can be laid. Radioactive intensity at any ground point up to 500 miles from the explosion can then be measured by the brightness at the corresponding point on the tube screen. The computer was developed for the United States Weather Bureau and the Atomic Energy Commission by H. R. Skramstad and J. H. Wright of the Bureau's analogue computers laboratory.