Estimates of the radiological dose to people living on Bikini Island for two weeks while diving in and around the sunken ships in Bikini Lagoon

Technical Report · Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:5445880

Robison, W L

Bikini Island and Bikini Lagoon were contaminated by fallout from nuclear weapons tests conducted at the atoll by the United States from 1946 to 1958. The second test, Baker, of the Crossroads series was an underwater detonation in 1946 that sank several ships in the lagoon, including the USS Saratoga and the Japanese battleship Nagato. The ships received high-intensity gamma-ray and neutron bombardment from the Baker test, which induced radioactivity in the metal structures. Some of the tests conducted after the Baker shot (there were 21 tests in all) injected contaminated carbonate particles into the air, some of which were deposited across the lagoon surface. Most of this contaminated soil then settled onto the ships' decks and other structures and on the lagoon bottom. These sunken ships provide an interesting location for divers. Recreational diving and swimming in and around the ships raises the question of the potential radiological dose from the radionuclides present in or on the ships and in the lagoon sediments. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to present an analysis of the potential radiological dose to persons who would dive near the sunken ships and live on Bikini Island for a short period of time.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5445880
• Report Number(s): UCRL-ID-104916; ON: DE92011590
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BIKINI
FALLOUT DEPOSITS
SAMPLING
SHIPS
RADIATION HAZARDS
UNDERWATER
ACTIVITY LEVELS
AMERICIUM 241
BISMUTH 207
CESIUM 137
COBALT 60
EUROPIUM 155
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
RADIATION DOSES
SEDIMENTS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BISMUTH ISOTOPES
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COBALT ISOTOPES
DOSES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EUROPIUM ISOTOPES
EXPLOSIONS
FALLOUT
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISLANDS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LEVELS
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEI
OCEANIA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOT
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
540330* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)