page4set5withLOPRIGHALGSEONLY

Order

801.
Item

coal tar epoxy gas seal plugs,
operations.

KEYWORD (8S)

CONTAINMENT ; HARDTACK;
NEVADA TEST SITE

and post-BANEBERRY
i

HARDTACK-PHASE II;

LANL;

8

150.
110.

REPORT NUMBER

72.
710.

PERSONAL AUTHOR/AFFIL Robison, W.L.

750.

PUBL.ANNOUNCEMENT

UCRL-ID--104916

PRIMARY TITLE (M)

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

CORPORATE SOURCE

Lawrence Livermore National Lab.,
States)

CA

(United

EDB-92:082046;NTS-92:017705; INS-92:014913;

ERA-17:019563
DATE (YYMMDD)
900900

371. PUB.
34. CLASSIF. LEVEL TEXT
Unclassified
950. ABSTRACT
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

801.

KEYWORD (S)

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.
BIKINI/FALLOUT; SHIPS/underwater

;SHIPS/radiation

hazards ;FALLOUT/sampling ;BIKINI; SHIPS; UNDERWATER;

RADIATION DOSES;COBALT 60;CESIUM 137; AMERICIUM 241;
BISMUTH 207;EUROPIUM 155;SEDIMENTS; ATOMIC EXPLOSIONS;
SAMPLING;

Item 9

150.

REPORT NUMBER

5003318

PB--92-106244/XAB

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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