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should substantially reduce the dose rate.
radioactivity is all relatively long-lived:
of the external dose.
As expected, the residual
csl3T contributes 70-80 percent
Thus only a slow decrease with time can be expected
from radioactive decay.
Plant and animal tissue contained varying amounts of fission and
BO He
activation products.
Pre-1946 Bikinian diet consisted predominantly of -
fish, with pandanus fruit, coconut, arrow-root, and land crabs supplying a
lesser intake.
Imported foods such as dried milk, canned meats, flour, and
+ atege a
vars
rice were seldom used by the Bikini people prior to 1946.
Contacts with the
outside world doubtless have tended to alter former tastes.
Fish fortunately
showed low levels of radioactivity and could be eaten in normal amounts (1-2
pounds per day per adult) without reservation.
Pandanus, coconut meat and
milk, as well as coconut crabs (land crabs) all contain substantial amounts
of Cs
137
and sr,
Further work must be done with raw data before a realistic
evaluation of radiation risk due to consuming these foodstuffs can be made.
Exclusion of some locally-produced food items from the diet may be indicated,
as was done in the case of land crabs in the resettlement of Rongelap.
In summary, it appears that re-occupation of Bikini Atoll within the
near future would result in an external radiation exposure about double that
incurred by the average U. 8. population but similar to that now incurred by
residents of the Colorado Plateau area.
The matter of soil burial or plowing
would presumably reduce such exposure to near average levels.
(It should be
noted that the soil cover is thin--a few inches--and disruption of this might
impair the fertility of the islands. )
Consumption of local produce in normal
amounts would yield radioactive body burdens of Csl37 20 to 50 times greater