Radiological survey of plants, animals, and soil at Christmas Island and seven atolls in the Marshall Islands. Progress report for 1974--1975

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5445389· OSTI ID:5445389

Nelson, V A

The Division of Operational Safety or DOS (now Safety Standards and Compliance) portion of the Laboratory of Radiation Ecology (LRE) Pacific Radiocology Program (formerly Johnston Atoll Program) began on 1 July 1974 and is continuing. The purpose of this program is to determine the kinds and amounts of radionuclides distributed in the foods, plants, animals, and soil of the Central Pacific, especially the Marshall Islands. Five field trips were conducted for this program between April 1974 and August 1975, and about 600 samples were collected. Results of the analyses indicate that /sup 90/Sr and /sup 137/Cs are dominant in the terrestrial environment and, in addition, /sup 241/Am and /sup 239,240/Pu are also important in the soil from Bikini and Rongelap atolls. Cobalt-60 and /sup 55/Fe are predominant in the marine environment together with naturally occurring /sup 40/K. Amounts of radioactivity vary between atolls and between islands within an atoll in relation to the distance from the nuclear weapons test sites. Bikini atoll has the highest amounts of radioactivity, but the northern islands of Rongelap Atoll have only slightly lower amounts. Rongerik and Ailinginae atolls and the southern islands of Rongelap Atoll have similar amounts of radioactivity which are lower than Bikini by factors of 5 to 10 or more. Values at Utirik Atoll are lower still, but are higher than amounts at Wotho and Kwajalein atolls. Christmas Island in the Line Islands has the least amount of radioactivity of the areas surveyed for this report.

• Research Organization: Washington Univ., Seattle (USA). Lab. of Radiation Ecology
• OSTI ID: 5445389
• Report Number(s): NVO-269-32
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
450200 -- Military Technology
Weaponry
& National Defense-- Nuclear Explosions & Explosives
510301 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Soil-- (-1987)
510302 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Terrestrial Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
520300* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM 241
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIKINI
BIOMASS
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COBALT 60
COBALT ISOTOPES
CRUSTACEANS
ECOSYSTEMS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPLOSIONS
FALLOUT
FISHES
FOOD
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
INVERTEBRATES
IRON 55
IRON ISOTOPES
ISLANDS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MASS TRANSFER
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MONITORING
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLANTS
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SAMPLING
SOILS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TIME DEPENDENCE
VERTEBRATES
WILD ANIMALS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES