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Health Physics

effect into account when the only measurement available

August 2010, Volume 99, Number 2

is of '’Cs activity in soil sampled decadesafter thetest.

listed in Simonetal. (2010a, Table 1). At every atoll in
the Marshall Islands, the Castle series was the predomi-

atoll or island, whether it was inhabited or not. For most

northern atolls, it was not the case for the mid-latitude

The estimated outdoor exposures, from TOA to
infinity, are presented in Table 3 for each test and each
of the tests, exposures of less than 1 R were estimated at
all atolls and islands. Much higher exposures, ranging
from 5 to 500 R, were assessed for several atolls in the

northern part of Marshall Islands and for several tests of
the 1954 Castle series (Bravo, Romeo, Yankee, Koon,

and Union). When exposures are summed overall atolls

and islands, those five tests account for 99% of the total
exposure, with Bravo alone contributing 84%.
Estimated tissue and organ doses

Annual doses from external irradiation have been

estimated for representative persons of the 26 population
groups classified into three different age categories
(infants, children, and adults). The annual doses are

reported for the time period from 1948 to 1970. By 1970,
the doses had decreased to very low levels in comparison
to the peak observed in 1954. Since the doses are
estimated for representative persons who were assumed
to have remained on eachatoll with movements between
atolls limited to the relocated and evacuated populations
(Simon et al. 2010a, Table 3), the doses from external

irradiation are proportional to the exposures calculated
using eqn (3), which are based on the environmental
radiation data (measurements or estimated values) avail-

able for each atoll and test. The doses reported for the
relocated populations include, where appropriate, contributions from exposures received before evacuation, during the period of resettlement, and following return to the
atoll of origin.
Estimated annual doses for adults, shown in Fig. 5,

were highest in 1954 and then decreased to values that
were, in 1970, less than one thousandth of the peak

values observed in 1954. The annual doses shownin Fig.
5 are for representative adults of four population groups

(Majuroresidents, Kwajalein residents, Utrik community

members, and Rongelap Island community members)*
that represent a range of deposition densities, as well as
a range of exposures in four distinct areas.
In Table 4, the doses through 1970 resulting from
the Bravo test are compared, for each of the 26 population groups, to the corresponding doses from all the tests
of the Castle series conducted in 1954 and from alltests
* Note to reader: As indicated in Simonet al. (2010a), we make

the distinction in this paper between “residents” of either Majuro and
Kwajalein and “community members” of Rongelap or Utrik. In the
former case, we are referring to anyone living on those atolls at the
time of fallout. In the latter case, we are referring to the entire group
of persons exposed on either Rongelap or Utrik and who were
members of the group relocated from thoseatolls.

nant contributor to the total external dose. While Bravo
was responsible for most of the external dose for the
and southern atolls. For example, the proportions of the
external dose contributed by Bravo for the Rongelap
Island community, the Utrik community, Kwajalein residents, and Majuro residents were >99%, 84%, 4.6%,
and 23%, respectively. In contrast, among the midlatitude atolls (Kwajalein and others), Yankee was the

most important test. The contributions from Yankee to
the external dose for the Rongelap Island community, the
Utrik community, Kwajalein residents, and Majuro residents were <1%, 4.5%, 39%, and 1.9%, respectively.
Among the southern atolls, the Romeo and Koontests

were the most important contributors to external dose.
The contributions to the external dose from the combination of Romeo and Koon fallout for the Rongelap
Island community, the Utrik community, Kwajalein residents, and Majuro residents were 0.5%, 6.5%, 25%, and
61%, respectively.
The external doses we estimated for the adult populations of the Rongelap Island and Utrik communities from
Bravo are very similar to those estimated previously by
Lessard et al. (1985), but our estimated dose for the 18

persons from Rongelap Island who were exposed to Bravo
fallout on Ailinginae is about onehalf the dose estimated by
Lessard et al. The reason for the differing estimates for
exposures on Ailinginae appears to be due to different
estimates of TOA,3 h for Lessard et al. (1985) compared to

4 h assumedin this study. As shown in Table 2, the integral
dose over the first few days is very sensitive to TOA,
particularly within the first day. The exact TOA for Bravo
fallout at Ailinginae was not measured directly but was
inferred from measurements at other atolls and, thus, is
uncertain.
Estimates of external doses to representative adults
from all tests are summarized in Table 5 according to
region of residence. For reference, the populations of
each atoll are given in Simon et al. 2010a (Table 2). As
shown, the estimated total external doses from 1948

through 1970 to the adult populations of the southern
atolls were all on the order of 5-22 mGy, and in the
mid-latitude region, 22-59 mGy. The dosesto the populations of Rongelap Island community, Ailinginae, and

Utrik community were muchhigher, reflecting the heavy
fallout from Bravo, even though the populations were
relocated within a few days after the test (Simonetal.

2010a, Table 3). The dose shown for Rongerik in Table
4 (940 mGy)is the estimated dose from Bravo fallout

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