BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
through June 26. It will not be possible to give these data their final interpretation in terms of
strontium 90 concentrations in the stratosphere until the question of the efficiency of air filters
can be resolved.
¢
Foreign Food Collection -
Food samples were collected in Spain by a nutrition team of the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense and will be analyzed for their strontium 90 and ~
calcium content. (End of UNCLASSIFIED section.2
.
~
RADIOBIOLOGICAL SURVEYSIN THE PACIFIC,tiS@Y
. A numberof radiobiological surveys were under way in the Pactfic to monitor the radio-
Surveys in Connection with HARDTACK
Informal arrangements were made with a radiochemist of the National Institute of Health,
Tokyo, for the collection of tuna ‘samples at a port oflanding in Japan..A total of. 2,600.
‘samples will be collected at the rate of 20 samples per day 5 days a-week for 6 months and
sent to the Laboratory of Radiation Biology of the University of Washington. All samples will
methane dts
HARDTACK. In addition, ecological studies at Rongelap Atoll will continue. Each of these ©
programs is described briefly below. —
tp hm ek de at ee
activity in the water and marine organisms resulting from the current test series, Operation,
be counted for total beta and gamma activity, and a Limited number will be selected for radio- chemical analysis. The Japanese will retain duplicate samples, and it is expected that infor-—
mation on sample analyses will be exchanged with them.
In connection with the WAHOO underwater detonation’on May 15, which was only the third
underwater detonation since the beginning of testing in the Pacific, the University of Washington and the Office of Naval Research joined forces to observe the physical and biological
dispersal in the water of radioactivity from that event. The Hydrographic Office Vessel USS
Rehoboth was used for the observation of water structure and the collection of water, plankton,
and fish, both before and after the event.
A limited number of biological samples were collected at Eniwetok, Bikini, and a few
nearby atolls prior to Operation HARDTACKand will also be collected following the test
series. Personnel were to be available.
e during the¢ operation for other radiobiological surveys
that might be needed.
-.
-
Immediately following the conclusion of the current test series a survey similar to the
post-REDWING survey of 1956 will be conducted to measure the contamination of waterin the
restricted area preparatory to removing the boundaries of the area. The surveywill go be-
yond the restricted area and in general, will include the area between Bikini, Eniwetok, and
Guam. Water, plankton, ‘and fish will be collected. Gross beta and gamma counts will be .
made of all samples and radiochemical analyses of a limited number of selected samples...
‘Beginning in July, four radiobiological surveys were to be made during the year at Guam,
in the Palau Islands, and in the Gulf of Siam by the Vanderbilt Foundation of Stanford University.
The ocean transport of contamination from the test site to these areas requires several months.
Those organisms will be collected that are most likely to concentrate radioisotopes from
weapons tests (commonly called indicator species) and that correspond mostclosely to species
sampledin other radiobiological surveys. Indicator species include fish, giant clams, lobster,
plankton, and land crabs. The samples will be sent to the University of Washington for count- ing and radiochemical analysis.
‘
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