71

in adults and 22 nCi in children, about 6 and 11%

respectively of the maximum permissible lifetime
body-burdenlevels for the populationatlarge, i.e..
“0 the ICRP value.'®9 Analyses of bone samples
from several autopsies during the past 20 years
gave estimated 9°Sr body burdenssimilar to those
obtained from urinalysis (see Figure 57). 137Cs
body burdens also reached their peak in about
1965, at nearly 0.7 uCi (23% of the permissible
level for the general population). The body burdensof the Utirik people were considerably below
those of the Rongelapese. Table 42 showsthat the
estimated bone marrow doses of Rongelap people
from internal and external sources (both natural
and man-made radioactivity) were considerably

reduced by 1974, and presents dataalso for Utirik
and Bikini.*
The coconut crab was banned from thediet on
Rongelap becauseofits high level of radioactivity,
but about 2 years ago the ban waslifted on the
southern isiands ofthe atoll because the radioactivity had decreased sufficiently (see Table 40).
B. *5Fe BODY BURDENS IN RONGELAPESE

In 1971 blood samples from 62 Rongelap residents were analvzed** for 55Fe, and their body
burdenswere estimated by the methodof Beasley
et al.!70 55Fe was knownto be present in the Marshall Islands in fairly high levels as a result of the
*Mr R.Fairchild at BNL calculated the bone marrow dose
for the 1974 data.
**The 55Fe analvses were carried out by T.M. Beaslev and
E E. Held at the University of Washington Schoolof Fisheries.
Seattle.

Table 43

Average Body Burdens of ®5Fe in Rongelapese, 1971170

Males

Females

No. of

Body burden,

Age

samples

16-20
21-31
32-42
43-53
54-64

8
+
5
2
6

0.31
0.33
0.52
0.58
0.53

>64

3

0.48

16-20

6

0.23

21-31

12

0.34

32-42
43-53
54-64
>64

5
7
2
2

pCi

0.33
0.66
0.57
0.66

local nuclear testing program andalso from world-

wide fallout, and to be concentrated by marine

life, particularly fish. The estimated body burdens
for the Marshallese tested (Table 43) are higher
than those found for Japanese bomb survivors and
for others tested, but they are not more than “oo

of the maximum permissible levels for non-occu-

pationally exposed individuals estimated with the
total body as the critical organ. The values are
slightly higher in females than in males, andsignificantly higher in older persons. °5Fe emits photonsof very low energy, and, sinceit is incorporated

into the hemoglobin ofthe red cells, it results in

relatively little irradiation of nucleated cells. Some
blood samples from the 1974 surveyare also being

analyzed for 95Fe.

C. PERSONNEL MONITORING AT BIKINI
In 1946, before Operation Crossroads, theresi-

dents were evacuated from Bikini. After stays at
Rongerik and at Kwajalein which proved unsatisfactory, they were relocated on Kili Island in the
southern Marshalls, which also proved unsatisfactory. The Eniwetok people were relocated at
Ujelang Atoll, to the west, after their evacuation.
After the 1958 moratorium on atmospheric nuclear testing, numerous radiological survevs were
done on Bikini and iater on Eniwetok Atoll.1?71-174
In 1967 the principal isotopes contributing to the
gammaradiation field on Bikini and Eneu Islands
were 137Cs, 89Co, 125Sb, and !55Eu; slight amounts

of Pu were also found. Considerable variation was
seen in the contamination of individual islands
comprisingtheatolls of Bikini and Eniwetoksince
different tests had been conducted on various ones.
The contamination of Rongelap and Utirik was
more uniform, being duelargely to fallout from a
single detonation, Bravo.
In 1968 an ad hoc committee reviewed the survey results for Bikini and decided that Eneu and
Bikini Islands were safe for habitation, with cer-

tain measures recommendedto reduce exposure
(see Appendix 13). In 1969 about 30 people started

work on Bikini Atoll (living on Eneu), and in 1971

several Bikini families moved back to Bikini Island
itself, which now has about 30 Bikini people plus
a few administrators and construction workers.
Annual monitoring of personnel has been carried
out since 1969. In 1974 radiochemical analyses

were done on urine (see Table 37 and Appendix
12) and other samples, whole-body gammaspectroscopy wascarried out on personnelliving on

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