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Operation Peppermint was the codename given during World War II to preparations by the Manhattan Project and the European Theater of Operations United States Army (ETOUSA) to counter the danger that the Germans might disrupt the June 1944 Normandy landings with radioactive poisons. In response, the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago and the Victoreen Instrument Company in Cleveland developed portable radiation detection devices suitable for use in the field. In 1944, Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., director of the Manhattan Project, sent Major Arthur V. Peterson to brief General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his senior staff officers at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). In response, ETOUSA initiated Operation Peppermint. Special equipment was prepared. Eleven survey meters and a Geiger counter were shipped to England in early 1944, along with 1,500 film packets, which were used to measure radiation exposure. Another 25 survey meters, 5 Geiger counters and 1,500 film packets were held in storage in the United States, but in readiness to be shipped by air with the highest priority. Chemical Warfare Service teams were trained in its use, and Signal Corps personnel in its maintenance. The equipment was held in readiness, but the preparations were not needed, because the Germans had not developed such weapons. ==Background== When the Manhattan Project assumed responsibility for the development of nuclear weapons in September 1942, it also assumed responsibility for the development of suitable countermeasures. At the time, the threat posed by the German nuclear energy project was taken very seriously. Consideration was given to issuing a public warning of the danger of a German nuclear attack on the United States, but the director of the Manhattan Project, Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., considered the likelihood of this to be sufficiently remote that he rejected the notion of taking so drastic a step. A subcommittee of the S-1 Uranium Committee, chaired by James B. Conant, and consisting of himself, Arthur Compton and Harold Urey, was appointed to look into the issue, and it similarly assessed the danger as low, but still sufficient to warrant taking some precautions. A program was initiated by the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago and the Victoreen Instrument Company in Cleveland to develop radiation detection devices suitable for use in the field. Some 48 portable detection meters were built in 1943, half of which were capable of detecting 0 to 10 roentgens per day, while the other half could detect from 0 to 100 roentgens per day. Instruments sets were stored at Manhattan District offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and the area engineer and some other officers were instructed in their use. A special team of scientists was created at the Metallurgical Laboratory who could respond to any reports of the use of nuclear weapons or radioactive poisons. It was considered more likely that Germany might employ such weapons against the United Kingdom, so four officers from the European Theater of Operations United States Army (ETOUSA) were summoned to Chicago where they were given a top secret briefing by the Manhattan District's Chicago area engineer, Major Arthur V. Peterson. They were told about possible forms such an attack might take, and what the effects and symptoms of them were, and they were given survey instruments and shown how to use them. They were enjoined to tell other officers in the theater to report unexplained fogging of film or illnesses with symptoms corresponding to the effects of radiation sickness. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Peppermint」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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