the Marshall Islands.

Data from this assessment were published in 1982.9

Our

second objective was to evaluate the biological accumulation and behavior of

This task continued through 1985.

the transuranium isotopes at the atoll.

In conjunction with on-going studies at Enewetak Atoll,

the collections

and analyses of fish samples were conducted with several additional research
objectives in mind.

Among these objectives were studies to assess

differences in the concentrations of specific radionuclides

the .

in fish from

different trophic levels, the magnitude of radionuclide concentration factors
for different species of fish, the changes in body burdens of radionuclides in
fish with time,

the tissue distributions of different

radionuclides

in

different species of fish, the differences in radionuclide concentrations in
fish from different regions of the atoll, and the usefulness of the current
data

for modeling concentrations of radionuclides accumulated by species of

fish in similar or different marine environments.

.

The marine program at Bikini Atoll, supported by the Office of Health and

Environmental Research of the Department of Energy, was phased out in 1985.
Some of the results generated from this program were discussed in published

reports.9-10 However, a great deal of data on radionuclide concentrations in

fish have not been included in the documents referred to above.

This report

is prepared to have, in one document, all available data on the concentrations

of radionuclides in samples of fish and invertebrates that we collected from
Bikini Atoll between 1977 and 1984.
reports6-17 contain nearly all

This document and previously published

of the historical data on concentrations

radionuclides in fish from Bikini Atoll

of

since the initiation of nuclear

testing.

|

The radionuclides for which data are reported include all those detected

by gamma spectrometry.

In addition, the concentrations of 90sr, !l3mcg,

238py, 2394240py, 241am, 210po, 210ph, and 210Bi are reported for those
Samples where radiochemical analysis was performed.

COLLECTION METHODS
Throw nets were used exclusively to catch reef fish in shallow water from
the islands noted in Table 1.

(We used

the

letter and

number

island

identification

system

convenience.)

Large pelagic fish were collected on sport fishing gear while

5000559

in

Fig.

1

rather

5

than the Marshallese name only for

Select target paragraph3