STATUS REPORT ON GRAZING STUDIES ON A PLUTONIUMCONTAMINATED RANGE OF THE NEVADA TEST SITE D. D. Smith National Environmental Research Center, Las Vegas* INTRODUCTION As has been reported previously, a grazing study on a plutoniumcontaminated range in Area 13 of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) was initiated in May of 1973 and is continuing. Since that time, a herd of beef cattle (grazing ruminants) has been continuously maintained, and goats (browsing ruminants) have been periodically maintained within the study area. Their entire diet consists of native plants growing in the contaminated soil. The primary objective of this study is to determine the uptake and tissue distribution of plutonium by ruminants. Other objectives are: (1) to determine the dry matter and plutonium uptake of grazing animals at different seasons of the year; (2) to determine the relative contributions of plutonium incor- porated within the plant versus that on the plant or ingested as foreign matter during the grazing processes; nal-fetal transfer; (3) to evaluate mater- (4) to determine uptake and distribution differ- ences in young versus mature animals; (5) to compare levels of pluto- nium found in tissue from grazing animals with levels found in browsing animals; and (6) to compare these data with that collected from other contaminated areas. *See footnote, p. 35. 41