Bruce Wacholz

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July 23, 1979

Progress to Date

The focus of the MIRSP was on environmental monitoring from the inception
of the program in 1974 until 1977.
In the spring of 1975 the Brookhaven field
survey team performed an extensive external radiation survey of Bikini Island
which laid the ground work for a "high resolution" survey by LLL, EPA, University

of Washington and BNL in July 1975.

The purpose of this latter survey was to

determine acceptable locations for a proposed second round of housing construction
at Bikini by DOI/TT.
In the fall 1975 we participated as collaborators in the

University of Washington, LRE's Pacific Basin Study to establish ambient background levels for external radiation and terrestrial and marine biota in
Micronesia.

In 1976 we continued our environmental monitoring efforts at Utirik, Rongelap,
and Bikini and began to assume responsibility for urine bioassay for Marshallese

medical subjects. This had previously been handled by BNL Medical and HASL.

The emphasis of our program over the past two years has been on personnel
monitoring; the most significant accomplishment being the demonstration of

rapidly increasing 137¢g body burdens among the Bikinians.
Follow-up personnel
monitoring for relocated Bikini residents has dominated our program activities

thus far in 1979.

The following list of publications will serve to illustrate our program
activities to date:
"Marshall Islands Radiological Follow-up", BNL 20767, Proceedings of the

Ninth Midyear Topical Symposium of the Health Physics Society (1976).
“Radiological Analyses of Marshall Islands Environmental Samples:

BNL 50796 (1977).

1974-1976",

"External Radiation Survey and Dose Predictions for Rongelap, Utirik,
Rongerik, Ailuk and Wotje Atolls", BNL 50797 (1977).

"Dosimetric Results for the Bikini Population", to be published in Health
Physics (1979).
“Whole Body Counting Results from 1974 to 1978 at Bikini Atoll", to be

published in Health Physics (1979).

“Dietary Radioactivity Intake from Bioassay Data:
A Model Applies to 13765
Intake by Bikini Residents" co-authored with R. Miltenberger, et al., to
be published in Health Physics (1979).

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