PART J - MONITORING NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL OPERATIONS
Monitoring NBC Operations. Contamination of field water supplies with deadly NBC agents must be regarded as a distinct
possibility. A water source may be contaminated by sabotage, disaster, or warfare. Contaminants can be N-nuclear,
B-biological, or C-chemical agents. All available evidence indicates that ingestion of any quantity of radioactive material is
harmful. However, complete abstinence is not possible since small amounts of radioactivity exist everywhere.
Water units must be prepared to continue operations in an environment filled with NBC hazards. Naturally, these hazards
complicate operations far beyond problems posed by the primary effects of NBC weapons. Therefore, it is necessary to
defend against NBC attacks. It is also necessary to use NBC defense personnel and equipment to reduce NBC hazards.
NBC reconnaissance gives units a choice.
They can avoid contamination or operate in it.
Hasty equipment
decontamination limits the spread of contamination and makes future decontamination easier.
The capabilities for
reconnaissance and decontamination must be maintained. Enemy use of NBC weapons places excessive demands on the
supply system for water. Water support elements do not maintain contingency stocks of water to accommodate the demands
of an NBC environment. Time may not allow for deliberate decontamination operations. Therefore, you may have to operate
equipment while it is still contaminated.
During normal peacetime conditions, the US Army follows the peacetime nuclear standards as set by the EPA. The
Army in the field is subject to the short- and long-term MPC tables designed to show the allowable amount of radioactive
substances taken into the body by drinking water (Tables 1-4 and 1-5). The decontamination factor of a 3,000-GPH ROWPU
is 99 percent.
Biological Contaminants. Biological operations are the use of biological agents to produce casualties in humans or animals
and damage plants. The United States policy on biological agents (including toxins) is:
(1) The United States renounces the use of all methods of biological warfare.
(2) The United States confines military programs for biological research to defensive measures, such as immunization,
prophylaxis, therapy, and sanitation.
Although the true potential of biological war (BW) is untested, the devastating effects of naturally occurring diseases are well
known.
BW agents are classified into three general groups:
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