are ideal for measuring the faunal and floral contamination of a
marine environment.

The favorable climate, warm water, freedom

from severe storms, protected waters of the lagoon, abundance of
aquatic life of great variety, all contribute to their desirability
as a base of operations.

Another advantage is the fact that the

atolls are isolated from other land masses with the result that
repopulation of these areas from the outside does not confuse the
interpretation of the data.

The natural history of Bikini and Eniwetok Atolls has been
thoroughly studied and reported upon.

During the testing program

of the past six years the living forms, the geology, the currents,

and the weather have been studied in detail.

The three expeditions

to Eniwetok by staff members of this Laboratory for study of
residual radiation have provided a backlog of information and
developed skills that will be invaluable to any continuation or
expansion of the study.
Definition and Outline of the Problem
The present program of study at Bikini-Eniwetok may be
divided, for convenience, into three phases:
1.

Pretest evaluation of contamination at Eniwetok.

2.

Resurvey of Bikini Atoll.

3.

Posttest evaluation of biological contamination of
Eniwetok.

Select target paragraph3