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Categorized | Orgone Biophysics
The Origin of an Oranur Reaction
Article by Roberto Maglione

Posted on16 July 2018. Tags: Oranur reaction, Orgone energy, radioactivity, wilhelm reich
The Origin of an Oranur Reaction


Disclaimer
I would like to emphasize that the information contained in this paper must not be, in any way, shape or form, considered and used in small or large scale operations, whatever their goal. It is only intended as material to be used with great precaution by very skilled and responsible people, under government permission, in a laboratory research setting, aimed at developing the knowledge and protocols to make the Oranur reaction more and more understandable and secure. It was never my intention to spread information that could be used for field applications, either on a small or large scale. I do not, in any way, approve of such actions, and the responsibility lies with the person who might undertake them.



The Origin of an Oranur Reaction

By

Roberto Maglione

FOREWORD

In the past many philosophers and scientists hypothesized an ideal society characterized by a perfect understanding and relationship amongst political, social, cultural and scientific realities. Plato’s Res Publica, More’s De Optimo Rei Publicae Statu Deque Nova Insula Utopia, Campanella’s Civitas Solis, and Bacon’s New Atlantis are all discussing and proposing solutions to get the humans to this perfect world.

However, even though the efforts were so profound no practical solution was found to satisfy the theoretical considerations of the thinkers of the past, and the French motto, Liberté, Egalité Fraternitè, after an initial period of hopes went forgotten in the loft of human’s desires and ideas.

Adriano Olivetti, an Italian entrepreneur and politician, tried in the ‘40-50s to transform those theoretical ideas into something more practical and created in Ivrea, Italy, an industrial reality where the economic, social, scientific and cultural worlds were solidly interconnected; and where each worker might have a high level of participation to the life of the activities. This model was successful and led Olivetti’s business to extraordinarily levels of development. However, it did not survive its inventor, when Olivetti died in 1960.

Another great thinker and scientist, contemporary of Olivetti, was Reich whose scientific work was instrumental in starting a new era in the understanding of the natural phenomena. And, I do think that with the work of Reich we can really start thinking about a new political, social, scientific, and cultural change, where the theoretical considerations of the many philosophers can now find a practical application. Reich discovered a new type of energy in nature which had life-enhancing properties and that it could be available everywhere. He also found that this energy continuum, which can express as tiny energetic units, is characterized by different phases of existence, i.e., it could be in dynamic, undisturbed flowing condition; in excited and chaotically-moving conditions (called Oranur); or again in deadly and static condition (called DOR). He observed that each of these conditions had particular characteristics. Reich saw that the dynamic units heralded health both in the living and in the environment, the excited units were instead harmful to the living, and the deadly units were even more dangerous and nefarious leading to death of the living and of the environment. However, Reich did find that at a low degree of excitation these energetic units might have therapeutic properties. In addition, the Oranur state at a little higher degree of excitation could produce a motor force thus giving rise to an infinite number of technical applications.

It could also transform radioactive matter into a highly-beneficial and life-enhancing matter. Recently, it has been hypothesized that this state can also be instrumental in creating higher states of consciousness.

I do believe that the intermediate excited state of these tiny energetic units is of fundamental importance for that change hypothesized by the philosophers, and that can lead us to a new type of world where the French motto may at last find its well-deserved collocation. Like a portal, or an obligatory step to take, after which a new world can be envisaged. However, I do think that this type of world already existed in the past on this planet, as I’m profoundly convinced that the many properties of these tiny energetic units were already known thousand years ago. And, Reich, simply unconsciously and unknowingly, rediscovered this knowledge, developing a science of the ether, in juxtaposition and sharp contrast to the science of the matter, today prevalent. I’m also profoundly convinced that the scientists of the time were much more skilled in managing and utilizing this ether than we are today. I discuss this point in depth in my recent book on the Shamir.

I hope that the content of this paper can contribute to peacefully taking the road that leads to that portal, beyond which we might at last find the utopian island or world that has been dramatically and obstinately looked for by so many of the most fervid minds this planet has had.



INTRODUCTION

The Oranur experiment is one of the most important researches Reich carried out in the last period of his life. It is also one of the least known amongst Reich’s many works. Its main purpose was to determine a process to reduce or even completely suppress, in a relatively short time, the ionizing radiations emitted by a radioactive source. He thought that this might be obtained by exposing the radioactive material to high concentrations of orgone energy units:

“Nuclear radiation, for instance radium, is changed under the influence of concentrated orgone energy. The kind and the extent of such change is still very obscure.” (1)

“It is known that orgone energy itself changes and neutralises radio-active rays.” (2)

He planned and conducted this type of research partly because of the advent of the Korean war in order to find a response and an antidote to the threat of a possible nuclear conflict. However, some evidences of these anti-nuclear properties of orgone energy were already observed in previous experiments with radioactive materials (3):

“It was pointed out that we are on the threshold of a total war which may come to America and that it was the purpose of these meetings to study and make plans for the amplification of the orgone energy towards the prevention of the destruction which may come, and in the treatment of the effects of atomic explosions. The value of orgone energy in wound healing, burns, anemias, any condition causing blood destruction, in the alleviation of pain, in shock, its value in building up the energy level, and thereby the general resistance of the organism as well as in counteracting tissue destruction of all kinds is well known. The effects of atomic explosions are in no way different from the pathology produced by other causes. Radiation sickness is itself no new entity from the standpoint of the pathology produced, i.e. a degenerative process modified merely by the speed with which it takes effect and the numbers of persons who would be affected. It is known that orgone energy itself changes and neutralises radio-active rays. It is also fairly evident that the consistent user of the orgone accumulator would not be as subject to the severe shock and other effects of nuclear radiation as those who had not used an accumulator, in the event of an atomic explosion.”

Accordingly, Reich’s latter experiments were focused and aimed at verifying whether very small quantities of radioactive materials, when put inside high concentrations of orgone energy units might be rendered innocuous. The results of the very last experiment he carried out in this direction, called Oranur (4), led him to completely different results and conclusions, and radioactivity was found to be detrimental to high concentrations of orgone energy. Nevertheless, further researches conducted by Reich in the following years, based on the results of the Oranur experience, proved that in the end orgone energy could convert nuclear energy into a more powerful and basically benign form of energy, called Orur (5).



BACKGROUND

Reich started experimenting with radioactive materials and orgone energy concentrations as early as 1939 (6), about 12 years before the Oranur experiment (7). In one of his notes he reported that a vial of radioactive luminescent matter (zinc sulphide), that was kept in a small orgone charger for many years, lost its ionization effect some time later because of the influence of the concentrated orgone energy inside the charger (8). In addition, the zinc sulphide did maintain its luminescent properties, and continued to luminate very strongly.

Right before the start of the Oranur experiment, in the period December 15-27, 1950, he performed some continuous measurements with radioactive zinc sulphide and one microgram of radium. He did find that lead shielding with a ¼” thickness did not provide an appreciable reduction of the radioactive zinc sulphide count rate at the Geiger-Muller (GM) counter. On day 7 of this preliminary testing (December 21) he obtained 200 CPM with the radioactive zinc sulphide inside the ¼” lead shielding, and 300 CPM naked at 1 cm distance. However, Reich observed the radioactivity emitted by the material went up when it was put into an orgone energy charger (9).

Reich from these preliminary results noted that in some way a nuclear material exposed for some time to concentrated orgone energy units could lose its radioactive potency and observed a variation of its radioactive decay constant. He also noted that lead shielding did not appreciably reduce the radioactivity produced when the same material was unshielded or naked. So, Reich suggested to use in the experiment, in order to produce an Oranur field, freshly obtained radioactive sources, in that only then might they be effective, while a nuclear material which had been exposed to orgone energy concentrations for a long period of time (years) would have none or reduced effects, since it had been already influenced by the concentrated orgone energy units (10).

For the Oranur experiment Reich ordered two milligram (mg) of pure radium-226 that were never previously exposed to concentrated orgone energy fields. One mg was used in the experiment and the other one was considered as control (11). A few days before the start of the Oranur experiment Reich measured the background radioactivity in some critical points at Orgonon. On Dec 19, 1950, in the students’ laboratory (12) the radioactivity was 40-50 CPM, and similar values were recorded in other parts of the area (13). The radioactivity was monitored also in the next few days obtaining similar values while, as expected, higher values were recorded in those areas where a mild Oranur reaction was intentionally produced by the small radioactive sources used in the preliminary testing (14).

Besides, in order to check the influence of the Oranur field developed during the experiment on living organisms he placed a few hundred mice in the hall of the students’ laboratory, located 40 feet (around 12 meter) far from the external walls of the orgone room (15).

The following figures shows the layout of the facilities involved in the experiment and where the radioactive source was located (marked with C in Figure 1); and the students’ laboratory, where the orgone room was situated (Figure 2).



Figure 1 (16)

Figure 2 (17)



THE ORANUR EXPERIMENT

The experiment started on January 5, 1951 at 11.30 AM. The radioactive material, one of the two needles of 1 mg of pure radium-226, was put inside a small charger (a 1-fold orgone accumulator). The charger was then placed inside a 20-fold orgone accumulator located inside the orgone room. Just before the radioactive material was placed inside the orgone room the radioactivity was between 40 and 50 CPM everywhere (18); while in the students’ laboratory varied between 40 and 60 CPM (19). That day the experiment concluded at 4.30 PM. The original intention was to keep the needle of radium-226 continuously in the orgone room, but the sharp increase of the radioactivity in the hall of the students’ laboratory to 70-80 CPM, just after two and a half hours; and to several hundred CPM on the outside of the walls of the orgone room after five hours, forced the decision to amend the protocol and stop the exposure of the radium to the concentrated orgone field inside the orgone room (20). After the removal of the radium-226 needle, the high background counts in the students’ hall decreased to nearly normal value of 60 CPM, after half an hour of ventilation of the facility (21), while in open air outside the laboratory, the count rate was 30-50 CPM. The radium within the small charger was then stored into a garage 150 feet (around 46 meter) away from the metal room. When stored into the garage no variation of the radioactivity was observed in the experimental area (22).

According to the results of the first day of experiment, the protocol was amended and the radium-226 inside its charger was then put into the 20-fold orgone accumulator of the orgone room, from January 6 to 11, and taken out after only one hour of exposure. On January 12, the experimental one mg of radium-226 was put into the 20-fold orgone accumulator for only half-an-hour, as the experiment was interrupted. A few minutes after the radium was placed the atmosphere in the students’ laboratory became clouded and shined blue to purple through the glass of the windows (23). The small charger with the radium-226 was taken out of the orgone room and put away to half a mile (around 805 m) distance from the laboratory, within an uninhabited area (24).

The reason for the interruption of the experiment was due to the severe reactions of the people to the Oranur field created during the exposure of the radium-226 to the concentrated orgone energy inside the orgone room. They experienced severe belching, severe nausea, sensation of fainting, loss of equilibrium, clouding of consciousness, cramp to the stomach, weakness, and pressure in the forehead (25). No measurement of radioactivity was possible to do soon after the end of the experiment because of the dangerousness of the operation.

As a whole after a few months from the conclusion of the experiment, Reich made a list of the typical symptoms people exposed to an Oranur field could experience. Amongst these the most important were severe belching, malaise; nausea; pressure in head, and chest; cramps and twitching in muscles and other organs; hot and cold shivers; fatigue; pathological blood picture; increases of white cells; inflammation of the conjunctivae; dryness of throat; severe thirst; provocation of deadly symptoms; leukemic change in the blood picture; pneumonia; pleurisy; and inner bleedings (26).

Of the mice located in the students’ hall, close to the orgone room, 286 in total, 57 died during the experiment, even though the mice were never physically close to the nuclear material; 12 were killed for autopsy and medical purposes; and 217 survived during the experiment but all died in the following weeks (27).

Common symptoms the mice developed were immobilization to various degree; rough fur; cold perspiration; total body contraction; cyanotic tail, noses, lips, and ear lobs; severe thirst.

Autopsy evidenced a leukemia-like blood picture and a more complex and broader picture of symptoms common to all the mice: pneumonia in the haemorrhagic or organizational stage; a severe fibrous exudate covering the pleural cavity; post-mortal greenish T-discoloration of the subcutis; severely distended veins, including the carotid vein; purple discoloration of the genital organs; grayish or cyanotic, hardened tails; cyanotic ear lobes, toes, and lips; deformed RBC (red blood cell) in the blood of the same shape as those found in leukemic mice, and a high incidence of white cells; highly enlarged spleen, up to four times its normal size; and a striking dryness of the peritoneum, and an apparent deficiency of fluid in the blood system (28).

On February 6, 1951, around three weeks after the conclusion of the experiment, radioactivity measurements were done in the student laboratory. It was found a value of 40 CPM both outside and inside, while inside the orgone room, where the experiment was physically performed, it was 30-50 CPM. The small charger containing the shielded radium-226 gave close by 20,000 CPM, while at a distance of 300 cm it was 200-300 CPM (29).

The two milligram of radium-226, each one contained in its ½” lead container, were then put inside a 4” concrete and steel wall safe and put in a building at a distance of about 1,200 ft (around 366 meter) from the students’ laboratory (30). This action was taken not because the nuclear sources were dangerous, but to avoid the possibility they could excite the orgone energy of the environment close to the laboratory to such a high degree to produce again a dangerous Oranur field (31).

At the end of March 1951, all the orgone devices at Orgonon were dismantled and moved away from the inhabited buildings. This decision was taken because it was impossible to keep assembled or even assemble again any of the orgone accumulators which have been in use before January 5, 1951. They were highly active and drove the background counts from two to four times the usual rate, to 100 CPM and more (32).

Sharaf commented on the difficulties in facing and taking the situation at Orgonon back to normal (33):

“Though the official experimentation had stopped around Jan. 20th, the dramatic events connected with its effects were still in evidence till almost the end of Feb., and they are still by no means completely absent. Eva R. almost died on Feb. 19th from sticking her hand in an OEA that had been kept shut and in the lower lab constantly. During the same week Mrs. R. and Peter’s blood pictures were very bad and they left the Ob for a few days and lived in town. Almost everyone who was in the ob that week suffered from malaise, (headaches, tiredness, inflamed eyes, and other symptoms). All the accumulators were dismantled around that time, and the metal-lined dark room, too; to this day (March 14th) it is still not possible to have an accu. (that is, an accu at all affected by the experimentation) in the ob without the persons living there suffering from dry throats and lack of air.”

Reich inferred that there was no protection whatsoever against orgone energy that was running wild when irritated by nuclear radiations, since the orgone energy units did penetrate everything, including lead and brick or stone walls of any thickness. He realized the safety measures to protect against ionizing radiations, developed by the Atomic Energy Commission, were not effective against the development of an Oranur field (34). And hence there were no means for protection against an atmospheric orgone energy running amok under the irritation exerted by nuclear energy (35):

“4. It is most likely, and even imperative to assume that quite ordinary materials such as rock, metal, and especially material arrangements which have the faculty of accumulating OR energy, continue to be active long after the originally triggering NR has been removed. This resembles induced radioactivity.

………..
5. Structures which are capable of accumulating atmospheric OR energy, such as steel wool, metal filing cabinets or simple metal-lined boxes, become active even if they have not been directly influenced by NR radiation; it is sufficient that they come into contact with a directly affected orgone energy accumulator (36).
………..
9. …….. Buildings which have been freed of any kind of radioactive material, and in addition, from which every single OR energy accumulating device has been removed, still drive the background counts as high as 80 or 100 CPM if regular ventilation is neglected for only half-a-day. On the other hand, fresh air removes the effects and reduces the activity to a normal of around 25 to 40 CPM (37).
………..
14. Since NR activates OR and changes it to Oranur, Oranur continues, chainlike, to affect other OR devices; an initial trigger effect would be sufficient to start a chain of Oranur activity, as said before. We would have, then, to distinguish OR accumulators which had not been triggered by NR; they would be applied as heretofore, for total, regular, preventive irradiation, treatment of wounds, burns, etc. (38).”

On April 12 and 13, 1951, Reich monitored again the radioactivity at Orgonon with the GM counter (39). The readings obtained at distances from the 4” concrete/steel wall safe location of 600-700 ft (around 183-213 meter) were 60-80 CPM; while for higher distances the readings were normal, namely 40 CPM (caretaker’s cabin). When he measured the radioactivity at 1 cm from the safe wall (and from 30 cm from the source inside the safe) he found 10,000-20,000 CPM; while at 100 cm he found 600 CPM; and at 1,000 cm it was 100 CPM. Inside the room containing the safe the radioactivity was 6,000 CPM, at 200 cm distance from the safe; and 1,000 CPM on the maid’s room at 300 cm distance from the safe. Reich realized from the high measured values of radioactivity that the safe acted as an energy orgone accumulator, due to its construction characteristics that resembled those of an orgone accumulating device, and hence was producing an Oranur field detectable by the GM counter, of the same kind produced few months earlier in the original experiment. Besides, Reich surmised that an Oranur reaction went on all the while since February due to this arrangement (40).

Reich did not know how to manage the situation he was facing. To simply dump the whole safe into a nearby lake did not seem advisable, since the Oranur activity would most likely have affected the water of the lake. To bury it into the ground seemed equally impossible since the orgone energy from the soil would have continued to react (41).

On April 15, 1951, he repeated the measurements and he found approximately the same value of two days earlier, namely 20,000 CPM at 1 cm distance from the wall safe; 1,000 CPM at 100 cm distance; 150-200 CPM at 1,000 cm distance; and 60-80 CPM at 5,000 cm distance. In the maid’s room it was 200 CPM. In those same days (April 13-23) Reich observed also that several mice (42), kept in the room that housed the safe, showed no sign of illness, and were very healthy. Reich believed that possibly he had reached the original goal of the Oranur experiment, namely to render harmless the nuclear material through high concentration of orgone energy, and that seemingly Reich already obtained in other minor experiments in the previous years:

“This is, apparently, what we had been dealing with all through the years when small samples of NR sources were first irritating the OR energy and finally were changed into innocent though highly active material which had lost the power of “ionization” and of harming living tissue. (43)

………………

The main pioneering job had been done; the main danger signals had been recognized: Oranur phase One and Two; the main symptoms in these intermediary steps were in the open. Behind phase One and Two, there was clearly outlined phase Three, the impotence of NR and the victory of OR energy.

The job was basically done. The rest of it was now up to the people and their representatives, the health agencies, the AEC, the national administration, the UN, the medical and physical sciences. (44)”

Reich decided to open the 4” concrete/steel wall safe and to measure the radioactivity inside it, at a distance of about 40 to 50 cm from the shielded sources situated inside the safe (two mg of radium-226 plus few micrograms of other nuclear material) (45). He obtained more than 100,000 CPM, since the GM counter was not able to measure it as it was out of range. When the nuclear materials were removed from inside the safe the radioactivity inside it decreased to 30-50 CPM. When Reich removed the radium-226 from its shielding and measured immediately the radioactivity, he found that the readings were 30,000-35,000 CPM with the GM counter at 1 cm distance from the naked material (46), and around 3,000 CPM at distance of 100 cm.

Since Reich thought that he had achieved his goal with the Oranur experiment, he thus put the nuclear material into a great charger and then again into a 20-fold orgone accumulator for about two days. However, he had to take it out again because of the formation of a new severe Oranur reaction (47). He measured the radioactivity and he found 2,000 CPM outside the charger. The development of physical Oranur symptoms, such as heavy air, and malaise, nausea, and pressure in the people was felt. Symptoms that were not felt when the nuclear material was inside the safe, as a consequence of the strong shielding effect of the steel/concrete thickness, that was not available instead when using only the charger, being made of a thin layer of steel, plus a thin layer of organic material that was not enough to shield the ionizing radiations. This latter arrangement allowed the ionizing effect of the nuclear material to irritate and trigger orgone, and convert it into DOR action. Reich concluded that to reduce the DOR effect one had to put the nuclear material into heavy shielding and thus confined, into the charger. In this way, the orgone energy units would get at the nuclear material, but not the opposite, the nuclear material could not get at the orgone energy units. In order to have a (controlled) Oranur reaction Reich suggested to build a housing for the safe and to put the nuclear material into the safe and then to put the safe (containing the nuclear material) in the vicinity of the charger. In this way, the Oranur effect was secured without having the possibility of the development of a DOR field (48).

From the results of the Oranur experiment Reich concluded that the radioactivity developed and measured by the GM counter was simply due to the orgone energy units available in the environment that produced, when excited by the nuclear source, an Oranur field with an extension of 600 ft (around 183 meter) (49):

“The problem was what it was, then, if it was NOT the NR source, that had made the GM counter race so high outside and inside the safe. It could not be anything else than the atmospheric OR energy which surrounded the shielded source and the safe as well as the building housing the safe as far as 600 feet up toward the road.”

It should be highlighted here that the extension of the Oranur field of 600 ft was due to the reaction of the orgone energy units in the environment surrounding the 4” steel/cement safe to the presence of the shielded nuclear sources located inside.

On April 28, 1951, Reich measured again the radioactivity (50) at 1 cm distance and he found for the one mg of radium-226 that was used in the Oranur experiment the following average values (51):

shielded = 276,480 CPM;

naked = 81,920 CPM.

From the above data it can be observed the naked radium-226 gave around one third of the radioactivity emitted when it was confined in its lead shielding. In order to compare the above measured data, one mg of the same radium-226 that was never exposed to concentrated orgone energy fields, was ordered from New York.

Before being sent it gave circa 16,000 CPM naked, and 7,000 CPM within a ½” lead shielding; while soon after arriving at Orgonon it gave circa 300,000 CPM shielded (measured by the Tracerlab autoscaler).

Reich argued that (52):

“It is the OR energy in the atmosphere, surrounding the NR material, which reacts at the GM counter. It is the organismic OR energy within living bodies which continues to react to NR material for months and even years (bio-energetic radioactivity: “radiation sickness”).”

According to the above considerations, it is reasonable to think that the radium-226 was put inside the great charger naked, since a radioactivity of 2,000 CPM was measured outside the charger. Indeed, in case the radium-226 was put inside the great charger shielded a much higher value had to be measured, having found on the naked sample around 3,000 CPM at distance of 100 cm few days earlier, on April 15.

In parallel to the scientific discoveries above summarized, Reich realized also that the results of the Oranur experiment might open a totally new and unexplored field inside orgonomy and that might lead to a reconsideration of the paradigms that until then were the solid foundations of the science, religion, and society of the time:

“In the mechanistic technician of physics, the observation of the physical functions of nature split off from the emotional manifestation as “physics” here and “mysticism” or “religiousness” there. On the other hand, in the well-trained orgonomic observer, these two modes of experiencing nature, otherwise so much opposed to each other, are united into one single picture. …. The sharp boundary lines between physics and what is called “metaphysics” have broken down. The metaphysical intuition had a physical basis: “GOD” and “ETHER” are ONE (53).

………..

All boundaries between science and religion, science and art, objective and subjective, quantity and quality, physics and psychology, astronomy and religion, god and ether, are irrevocably breaking down, being replaced by a conception of the basic unity, a basic CFP of all nature which branches out into the various kinds of human experience (54).



MATERIALS AND METHODS

One of the aims of the present study is to understand whether the Oranur field, created during the original experiment, was produced by the radium-226 taken inside the small charger either naked or shielded by its ½” leaden tube. Besides, whether the specific biological reactions developed by the bio-energetic systems present at Orgonon during the experiment had some connection with the ionizing radiations transmitted through the orgone devices and the orgone room to different directions is also investigated. In calculating the amount of energy coming from the radioactive source and then absorbed by the tissues of the living organisms, a number of factors were considered. The most important of these are the proximity of the living organisms to the radioactive source, the obstacles the radiations had to pass through to reach them, and the exposure time.

Reich, when describing the Oranur experiment, never clearly reported whether the one-mg of radium-226 was put inside the charger naked or confined in its lead shielding (55). The only mention he did make about the shielding of the radioactive source was in two brief passages in the Oranur Experiment book. Those statements, however, are controversial in that it is not clear whether Reich referred to the needle of radium shielded by the layers of materials the orgone devices (small charger, 20-fold ORAC, and orgone room) were made of, or rather it was shielded by its leaden tube:

“We had the notion that the metal lining of the OR energy room itself would add some shielding. There were workers doing their jobs outside in the experimental hall at a distance of an average of some 30 feet (i.e., ca. 10 meters) and more from the shielded radium needle. (56)”

“We left the needle of Ra in the charger until about 16:30h (in the afternoon of January 5, i.e., 5 hours). We had intended to keep the Ra continuously in the shielded place. (57)”

Many authors, including Reich’s close collaborators, discussed the point. Some of them reported that the one-mg needle of radium-226 was shielded, while some others simply stated the one-mg needle was put inside the charger (probably without shielding). An exhaustive overview of the related literature has been done elsewhere and the reader may refer to it for more details (58).

In this study, particular attention has been given to what might have occurred during the original experiment above all along two main directions of propagation of the ionizing radiations (Figure 3). The study of the trend of the radiations attenuation from the small charger, where the radium-226 was contained, towards the mice cage (marked as M on direction A in Figure 3) aims to check whether the intensity of the ionizing rays (whether any) had some influence on the biological reactions and diseases the mice developed during the experiment and whether the subsequent deaths were correlated. Similarly, the evaluation of the intensity of the gamma rays hitting the observers outside the students’ laboratory (marked as Obs on direction B in Figure 3) aims to determine whether the symptoms Reich and his collaborators which developed during the whole experiment, might be associated to the ionizing radiations that travelled along that direction and reached the observation site.

Figure 3

The ionizing radiations radium-226 emits are alpha particles (59), with a maximum energy of 4,785 keV, and gamma-rays, with a maximum energy of 186 keV. Alpha particles have a mass and an associated electrical charge, and are characterized by very short pathlengths. The average distance a 4 MeV (60) alpha particle travels in air before coming to rest is about 3 cm, while the same energy can be stopped by a thin piece of paper, or a thin sheet of some other solid or liquid materials.

Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiations or photons and are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, like radio waves, X-rays, and light. The penetrating power is much greater than that of charged particles. These photons interact with matter in three primary ways: (1) by photoelectric absorption, (2) by Compton scattering, and (3) by pair production (61). The attenuation of the radiations emitted by a radioactive source through an absorber material occurs as a combination of the three above processes, and is given by the Lambert-Beer equation:
(1)

Where I is the emerging intensity transmitted by the absorber of thickness L, Io is the incident intensity of the gamma-ray on the same absorber, B is the build-up factor (62), and ml is the linear attenuation coefficient (expressed in cm-1). The ratio I/Io is called the gamma-ray transmission. The linear attenuation coefficient ml depends on the gamma-ray energy, the atomic number (Z) and the density (r) of the absorber material (63).

Another way to determine the attenuation of gamma-ray radiations through an absorber is to resort to the mass attenuation coefficient, m, defined as the ratio of the linear attenuation coefficient to the absorber density (ml/r). Hence, the expression of the attenuation of gamma-ray radiations, given by eq. (1) can be re-written as follows (64):
(2)

The mass attenuation coefficient is independent of the density, and it is more commonly tabulated than the linear attenuation coefficient. The measurement units of the mass attenuation coefficient are cm2/g. For energies between about 0.75 and 5 MeV, almost all materials have, on a mass basis, about the same gamma radiation attenuation properties. To a first approximation therefore, shielding properties are approximately proportional to the density of the shielding material.

Radiations could be reduced using barriers consisting of metals or materials that have the ability to either absorb the radiations and convert them to heat or reflect them. The half-value layer (HVL) is the thickness of absorbing material required to reduce the incident radiation intensity by a factor of two, and that will halve the gamma-ray intensity passing through it. The HVL is measured in cm, and decreases as the atomic number Z of the absorber increases. For all the materials the HVL increases with the energy of the gamma-rays.

By adding one or more halving thickness of the same material the intensity of the gamma rays is further reduced according to the number of halving layers added. This value is called protection factor (PF), and tells how much of the intensity of the incident gamma-ray radiation is transmitted and hits a specific target downstream of the absorber whole thickness. To this extent the PF characterizes the radiation shield of a gamma-ray incident on an absorber. In case of only one halving layer the PF is two; while if one has 4 halving layers, the PF is 16. In case the thickness of the absorber is made of 10 halving layers the PF is 1,000 and is a shield that only lets about 1/1000 of the gamma-rays radiations pass through. Generally, the expression of the PF is given by 2n, where n is the number of halving layers (65). Absorbers can be also made of different materials, each characterized by a different HVL value. In this case the total PF is given by an equivalent value determined by the individual contribution of each material.

FEMA (66) establishes that the minimum value of PF for a shelter in order a human organism can be protected by a nuclear fallout is 40. However, PF of 200 and more is recommended. The modern-day standard for PF is 1,000.

However, the risk for the health of a person is not only dependent on the radiation hitting the person, but is also a function of the exposure time. Indeed, radiation is less dangerous in the case that the time spent by the person beside the radiation source is reduced. According to the recommendations of international councils such as ICRP (67) and USNRC (68), the maximum exposure limit or effective dose (69) allowed to a person who works with ionizing radiations is 50 mSv/yr (milliSievert per year). This value however must not exceed 100 mSv for a set of 5 consecutive years. For the general public the limit is set to 1 mSv/year that is considered as a low or very low radiation dose. This value corresponds to an average allowed exposure limit per hour of 0.11 mSv (microSievert).

In case of a dose received by the whole body during one short and intense irradiation, UNSCEAR (70) has established a way of classifying exposure levels based on the thresholds above which deterministic effects, i.e. short-term biological signs or post-radiation symptoms, occur and that are felt by all individuals exposed above these thresholds. Effective doses below 200 mSv are considered to be low or weak, and below 20 mSv very low or very weak. Radiation absorbed in a medical context (excluding radiotherapy) as well as those occurring from natural sources fall into this category. Doses in this range are characterized by a lack of deterministic effects (71).

The specific activity (72) of radium-226 is given by 36.6 GBq/g (or 1 Ci/g) (73); while the dose rate for a gamma emitter point source is given by 1743.7 mSv/h/GBq and 17.43 mSv/h/GBq at a distance of 1 cm and 10 cm, respectively.

Being the quantity of radium-226 used by Reich in the Oranur experiment of 1 mg, the activity was 0.0366 GBq (or 1 mCi), and the corresponding dose rate at 1 cm and 10 cm is given by 63.8 mSv/h and 0.638 mSv/h, respectively.

In order to determine the transmitted intensity of the gamma-rays emitted by the radium-226 during the Oranur experiment at Orgonon, in January 1951, we need to know the arrangement in the premises of the orgone apparatus involved in the experiment and the materials they were made of.

The structures and the devices involved in the experiment are here below described and discussed. For each of them, it is also reported, when available, the sizes and the materials they were made of. Each layer of the materials used in the construction of the structures may be considered as an individual barrier to the propagation of the gamma rays emitted by the radium-226 situated in the small charger. As alpha particles are characterized by very short pathlengths, they are not considered in the present study as potential noxious energies in that they were totally blocked inside the small charger in which the radium-226 was contained and never reached the living systems present during the experiment. On the contrary gamma rays, being characterized by much higher pathlengths are instead considered and the possible effects on the bio-energetic systems evaluated.

A leaden tube. The needle of radium-226 from time to time was kept inside a leaden protective tube of ½” thickness (74). After the conclusion of the Oranur experiment the shielded needle was put inside a 4” wall safe made of steel and cement with the aim to protect the surrounding environment from the diffusion of an Oranur field produced by the radioactive source (75).
A small charger. The charger was a 1-fold ORAC (76). It contained the one mg of radium-226 during the Oranur experiment. No information about the size and the materials it was made of were reported by Reich. It can be assumed that it had characteristics similar to those of a small charger which Reich mentions, beginning in February 1951, few weeks after the conclusion of the experiment. The latter was one cubic foot in volume, and was internally lined by a metal sheet gauge 26 (77). As to the intermediate layer we may presume it was made of a plastic sheet (PET, supposed to be 1 mm thick) alternated to steel wool (about ½” or 12.7 mm thick). A compressed wood fibre board would have served as outer layer (½” or 12.7 mm thick) (78).
A 20-fold ORAC. It housed the small charger during the Oranur experiment. The ORAC was 5 feet square horizontally (1.524 m) (79). No information has been reported about the height. As to the materials it was made of, it may be supposed Reich used an (galvanized) iron sheet (gauge 28, or 0.397 mm thick) as inner layer; and a compressed wood fibre board, as outer layer (½” or 12.7 mm thick). As to the materials of the intermediate layers, it may be assumed Reich used plastic sheet (PET, supposed to be 1 mm thick) alternated to steel wool (about ½” or 12.7 mm thick).
The orgone room. It housed the 20-fold orgone accumulator during the Oranur experiment. The size of the orgone room was 18 ft x 18 ft (or 5.486 m x 5.486 m) (80). No information was reported by Reich about the height of the room, but is can be supposed it was about 2.2 m (deduced from the picture of the orgone room, not reported in this article). It was lined internally by an iron sheet (gauge 26 or 0.476 mm) (81); while the internal organic layer was glass fiber (½” or 12.7 mm thick) (82). It may be considered the walls of the room built by ordinary bricks (assumed to be 12.5 cm thick), while it was lined externally by a cement board (about 1 cm thick) (83).
The Students laboratory. It contained the orgone room. The size was 60 ft x 70 ft (or 18.29 x 21.34 m) (84). The walls of the laboratory were made of wood (85). However, what is important to the present study is the windows of the laboratory that were the weakest point in terms of gamma-ray propagation outside it, and through which the observers saw the formation and the propagation of the blue-purple cloud in the laboratory hall during the last day of the Oranur experiment. The windows are made of glass, single paned, around 5 mm thick. Sizes of the large windows might be deduced from figure 2. Dimensions can be assumed to be around 3.7 x 2.2 m.

Mice cage. It housed the mice that were exposed to the Oranur field during the experiment. It was located 48.5-49.5 ft (14.8-15.1 m) away from the radioactive source (86). No info is reported about the sizes and the materials the container was made of. It may be assumed it was a cage wire mesh.

The following figure 4 shows the arrangement of the radium-226, of the small charger, and of the 20-fold ORAC inside the orgone room.

Figure 4

The following table 1 summarizes the sizes (when available) of the devices and structures above discussed, and the materials and corresponding thicknesses they were consisting of.

Device or structure


Material


Size
[cm]


Thickness
[cm]


Note

Leaden tube


Lead


N/A


1.27


–

Small charger
(1-fold ORAC)


Metal (iron)


30.48 x 30.48 x 30.48


0.0476


Inner layer (gauge 26)

Plastic (PET)


30.48 x 30.48 x 30.48


0.1


Organic layer

Steel wool


30.48 x 30.48 x 30.48


1.27


Inorganic layer

Wood (fibre)


30.48 x 30.48 x 30.48


1.27


Outer layer

20-fold ORAC (87)


Iron


1.524 x 1.524


0.0397


Inner layer (gauge 28)

Plastic (PET)


1.524 x 1.524


0.1


Organic layer

Steel wool


1.524 x 1.524


1.27


Inorganic layer

Wood (fibre)


1.524 x 1.524


1.27


Outer layer

Orgone room


Iron


2,200 x 5,486 x 5,486


0.0476


Outer layer (gauge 26)

Glassfiber


2,200 x 5,486 x 5,486


1.27


Organic layer

Wallbrick


2,200 x 5,486 x 5,486


12.5


Organic layer

Cement (concrete)


2,200 x 5,486 x 5,486


1


Outer layer

Students laboratory


Glass


3,700 x 2,200


0.5


Windows

Table 1

Table 2 reports the distance between the different devices involved in the experiment.

From


To


Distance
[ft]


Distance
[m]


Note

Radium-226 needle (leaden tube)


1-fold charger (inner layer)


0.50


0.10


–

1-fold charger outer layer


20-fold ORAC inner layer


2.00


0.61


–

20-fold ORAC outer layer


Orgone room inner layer (dir. A)


6.00-7.00


1.83-2.13


Distance in the calculations is averaged to 6.5 ft

20-fold ORAC outer layer


Orgone room inner layer (dir. B)


13.00


3.96


From Figure 4

Orgone room outer layer


Mice cage location (dir. A)


40.00


12.19


From table at page 280 of OE book

Orgone room outer layer


Students laboratory window (dir. B)


34.50


10.51


Deduced from Figures 3 and 4

Students laboratory window


Observers location (dir. B)


150.00


45.72


Deduced from Figures 3

Table 2

Table 3 shows the mass attenuation coefficient, the density, and the corresponding half-value layer (HVL) of the materials the devices and structures involved in the Oranur experiment were made of for a gamma-ray incident intensity of 0.2 MeV (when not otherwise specified). Air is included in table 3 being the attenuation of gamma-ray radiations occurring during the experiment also through it.

Material


Mass attenuation coefficient
[cm2/g]


Density
[g/cm3]


HVL
[cm]


Note

Air


1.233∙10-1


1.2∙10-3


4684.7


NIST

Common brick


1.097∙10-1


1.87


3.38


Mann et al (Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 2013) (data for 0.276 MeV)

Cement (concrete)


1.282∙10-1.


2.300


2.35


NIST

Glass


1.246∙10-1


2.230


2.49


NIST

Glassfiber


1.246∙10-1


1.27∙10-2


437.9


NIST, Natindco (88)

Iron


1.460∙10-1


7.874


0.60


NIST

Lead


7.820∙10-1


11.35


0.08


NIST

Plastic (PET)


1.282∙10-1


1.380


3.92


NIST

Steel (wool)


1.800∙10-1


11.89∙10-2


32.38


Singh et al (Radioprotection, 2013) (89)

Wood fibre (Celotex)


9.571∙10-1


0.417


1.724


Ero et al (IAAST, 2012) (data for Melaina wood at0.265 MeV) (90)

Table 3



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Applying eq. (2) to the above data we can determine the value of the total gamma-ray transmission at the two end points M and Obs (Figure 3).

These values correspond to the transmitted intensity at the two above sites after the radiations had travelled through all the barriers, represented by the materials the orgone devices and the structures were made of, and through the air along the directions A and B, towards M and Obs, respectively. In doing this evaluation the following assumptions were done:

The one-mg of radium-226 was shielded and put inside the small charger in its protective ½” leaden tube;
The one-mg of radium-226 was unshielded and put inside the small charger naked.

In the calculations it has been considered for simplicity a value of the build-up factor B in eq. (2) of 1. This has been done as the type of shielding configuration, the type of materials, and the related thicknesses provided a very small increase of the transmitted dose rate. The only material that would have been given a little higher increase in the transmitted radiation intensity is lead with a value of the build-up factor about 1.06. However, this value does not change the order of magnitude of the transmitted dose rates at the two investigated end points, M and Obs, thus making the simplification much more than acceptable.

The total effective dose, the living organisms were subjected to during the whole Oranur experiment, has been determined according to the total exposure time or the total duration of the experiment that was 11 ½ hours, distributed as follows: Jan 5, 1951 = 5 hours (11.30-16.30); Jan 6=1 hour; Jan 7=1 hour; Jan 8=1 hour; Jan 9=1 hour; Jan 10=1 hour; Jan 11=1 hour; Jan 12= ½ hour (91).



Radium-226 shielded in its protective leaden tube

At the Observers site (end point Obs) the transmitted intensity of the ionizing radiations was 3.8·10-5/1000 of the original intensity emitted by the shielded radium-226. This means that Reich and his collaborators were exposed during the whole experiment to a gamma-ray intensity of about 2.4·10-3 mSv/h. A quite low value, with a corresponding PF of about 2.6·107 that is an extremely high value when compared to the maximum standard suggested today (Protection Factor, PF, of 1,000). The total effective dose Reich and the observers were subjected to during the whole experiment was about 2.8·10-2 mSv.
At the mice cage (end point M) the transmitted intensity of the ionizing radiations was 8.7·10-5/1000 of the original intensity emitted by the shielded radium-226. This means that the mice, kept constantly in the cage for all the duration of the experiment, were exposed to a gamma-ray intensity of about 5.5·10-3 mSv/h, which corresponds to a PF of about 1.1·107. The total effective dose the mice were subjected to during the whole experiment was about 6.4·10-2 mSv.

The above values are by far lower than those imposed by the regulations and tell that practically the site, where the mice were constantly kept, should not have been affected by any radiations coming from the shielded radium-226 in the small charger.

Radium-226 unshielded

At the Observers site (end point Obs) the transmitted intensity of the ionizing radiations was 3.0/1000 of the original intensity emitted by the unshielded radium-226. This means that Reich and his collaborators were exposed during the experiment to a gamma-ray intensity of about 1.9 mSv/h. This value is little higher than the hourly exposure dose limit set at 0.11 mSv/h, and corresponds to a PF of about 333 that is a little below the maximum standard value suggested today (PF of 1,000). The total effective dose, the observers were subjected to during the whole experiment, was about 22.0 mSv.
At the mice cage (end point M) the transmitted intensity of the ionizing radiations was 6.8/1000 of the original intensity emitted by the unshielded radium-226. This means that the mice, kept constantly on that site for all the duration of the experiment, were exposed to a gamma-ray intensity of about 4.3 mSv/h, which corresponds to a PF of about 147. The total effective dose, the mice were subjected to during the whole experiment, was about 50.0 mSv.

The above values are little higher than those registered at the observation site, but however, are still very low. Indeed, if we consider the total effective dose the mice were exposed to, this value is by far lower than 20 mSv (or 20,000 mSv) which is considered by UNSCEAR a very low or very weak dose for a short duration exposure. Below this dose deterministic effects, such as short-term biological signs or post-radiation symptoms, are practically absent.

Table 4 below summarizes all the above calculated data.

One-mg Radium-226


Site


Effective dose [mSv/h]


Total effective dose
[mSv]


PF

Shielded


Observers (Obs)


2.4·10-3


2.8·10-2


2.6·107

Mice (M)


5.5·10-3


6.4·10-2


1.1·107

Unshielded (naked)


Observers (OBS)


1.9


22.0


333

Mice (M)


4.3


50.0


147

Table 4

From the above analysis it is evident that the intensity of the transmitted radiations at the mice cage and at the observation point was extremely low even when we consider the case the radium-226 was put inside the small charger unshielded. UNSCEAR regulations set as upper limit an effective dose of 0.5 Sv above which deterministic reactions in the bio-energetic systems such as nausea, vomiting, etc., can occur; and of 4-4.5 Sv to get acute radiation reactions to exposure such as hematological symptoms (bone marrow damages), digestive symptoms (gastro-intestinal tract damages), neurological symptoms in the central nervous system, and death in 50% of the cases. According to the data obtained in this study, it is clear that the symptoms, the diseases, and the deaths occurred at the two end points were not the consequence at all of the gamma-ray radiations emitted by the radioactive source, being the highest intensity determined by the calculations that could hit the end points of 50.0 mSv, a value by far lower than that set of 0.5 Sv (or 500,000 mSv) in order to get deterministic reactions. Indeed, according to UNSCEAR, the symptoms experienced by Reich and his collaborators, and those observed in the mice, in addition to the deaths of some of them that occurred during the experiment, all fall into the highest categories of the effective dose one might have been exposed to, such as from medium (0.2 Sv to 2 Sv) to very high (> 10 Sv). However, even though the values at Orgonon during the Oranur experiment were lower than those set by standard, the reactions of the bio-energetic systems were very similar to those of a high radioactive exposure, as also observed by Reich (92):

“6. The deadly OR effects (DOR) act in a direction observable in leukaemia: destruction of the RBC-producing systems, bone marrow, etc.”

As a consequence, we are witnessing a controversial picture, where many people experienced during the Oranur experiment biological reactions typical from exposure to a medium effective dose; and where the mice (apart those killed for scientific purposes) had reactions (and about 20% of them died) typical from exposure to very high effective doses. But at the same time, according to the calculations, no effective doses like those set by the regulations would ever be detected at the sites where the two bio-energetic systems (mice in M, and humans in Obs) were situated.

Besides, during the whole experiment very high values of the radioactivity were recorded outside the orgone room, in the students’ hall, and in the environment outside the laboratory. Before the start of the experiment the radioactivity in the hall of the students’ laboratory was 40-50 CPM, while during the experiment values of 70-80 CPM were measured. Besides, on the outside of the walls of the orgone room several hundred CPM were detected. After the conclusion of the daily experimentation, i.e. when the radium (inside the small charger) was removed from the inside the 20-fold orgone accumulator and stored in a garage 150 feet away from the experimental site, the radioactivity dropped to 60 CPM first, and then to 30-50 CPM after airing of the premises.