Radiological survey of plants, animals, and soil at five atolls in the Marshall Islands; September--October 1976

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6455537· OSTI ID:6455537

Nelson, V A

The Division of Operational Safety's portion of the Pacific Radioecology Program began in 1974 and it is a continuing program to determine the kinds and amounts of radionuclides distributed in the foods, plants, animals, and soils of the Central Pacific, especially the Marshall Islands. As part of this program, Wotje, Ailuk, Utirik, Rongelap, and Bikini tolls were visited in 1976 and samples collected. Results of the radiometric analyses of the samples are presented. Results of these analyses indicate that /sup 90/Sr and /sup 137/Cs are predominant in the terrestrial environment and, in addition, /sup 241/Am and /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu are also important in the soil from Rongelap and Bikini Atols. Naturally occurring /sup 40/K is the predominant radionuclide in marine organisms, while /sup 60/Co is significant in the tridacnid clams. Amounts of radioactivity vary with distance from the Bikini test site and in relation to the fallout pattern from the March 1954 Bravo test. Thus, samples from Bikini Atol had the greatest amounts of radioactivity while the northern islands of Rongelap had slightly lower amounts. The southern islands of Rongelap Atoll and Utirik Atoll had intermediate amounts of radioactivity while Ailuk and Wotje atolls had the least radioactivity of the atolls visited.

• Research Organization: Washington Univ., Seattle (USA). Lab. of Radiation Ecology
• OSTI ID: 6455537
• Report Number(s): NVO-269-36
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510301* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Soil-- (-1987)
510302 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Terrestrial Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
520302 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Aquatic Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560172 -- Radiation Effects-- Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology-- Animals-- (-1987)
560173 -- Radiation Effects-- Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology-- Plants-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM 241
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
ANIMALS
ANTIMONY 125
ANTIMONY ISOTOPES
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COBALT 60
COBALT ISOTOPES
COMPILED DATA
CRUSTACEANS
DATA FORMS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ECOLOGY
ECOSYSTEMS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EUROPIUM 155
EUROPIUM ISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FISHES
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
INVERTEBRATES
ISLANDS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MASS TRANSFER
MICRONESIA
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MOLLUSCS
MONITORING
NUCLEI
OCEANIA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLANTS
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
POTASSIUM 40
POTASSIUM ISOTOPES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOECOLOGY
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
SOILS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
TABLES
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES