Atomic Vest Mystery

Atomic Vest Mystery

Atomic Vest Mystery

Here's a strange little tale about an unusual protective garment....

It's a vest which was the subject of a 2005 investigation titled A Measurement of the Neutron and Gamma Transmission of a Protective Vestby ARL, the Army Research Laboratory.

"A vest, presumably designed for protection from nuclear radiation, is investigated for effectiveness. A possible use of the vest is the diminution of exposure to neutron and gamma radiation. For this purpose, the transmission of both energetic (MeV) and thermal (meV) neutrons and gamma rays are measured."

The vest is described as follows:

"The vest consists of several “pockets” of the shielding material enclosed by a canvas type material. The size of each pocket is ~50 × 50 mm2 and 25 mm thick. A photograph of the vest is shown in figure 1. The composition of neither substance, the shielding or enclosure, is known. Two instruments are used in the transmission measurement of neutrons. These serve for the determination of the transmission of the material for energetic and thermal neutrons. Several natural radioactive sources of gamma rays are used to determine gamma transmission as a function of energy."

However, it looks like the vest is not up to the job:

*There is also no detection of nuclei specific for neutron protection (boron, lithium, and cadmium). If this is designed for neutron protection, it is poorly done. The gamma ray transmission measurements also do not reflect any extraordinary properties for radiation protection. This material is not well suited to protect the human body from these radiations. *

But what is tantalizing here is that although we know that "the vest is provided by the National Ground Intelligence Center" – the group that gathers intelligence about foreign militaries. We don't know where they got it from. What we do know is that somebody, somewhere in 2005 was expecting to deal with radioactivity – and being sold inadequate protective gear to do. So the mystery is: Where did the vest come from? Would China or Russia merit a study like this? Syria or Iran? Al-Qaeda?

Thoughts and suggestions welcome...