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would keep them outdoors much of the time.

Older people might have received

the lesser amounts because of their lesser activity and their penchant of
normally staying indoors, or in the shade or at one locale.
for the islands of Rongelap and Sifo (Ailinginae),

Three, especially

the amounts of radioactivity

present when RadSafe personnel did arrive was so high as to preclude their
staying on the islands long enough to get enough accurate data.
Estimates, or "best guesses" can be calculated if some dose rates in the
area are known, and because -- although radioactive elements are unstable,
form of instability is a stable characteristic -- in other words,
of

radioactive materials

is a known factor.

Basically,

were arrived at for the four groups of people.

this

this

the behavior

is how the doses

The three major sources upon

which calculations were made are listed and discussed below.
Rongerik
Fortunately, at least for the purposes of dose calculation,

the RadSafe

team on Rongerik had radiation badges (strips of film, which indicate exposure
to radioactivity) on their persons, outside the building, and inside their
refrigerator in their quarters.

They also had a monitoring device.

From the

differing exposures indicated by the badges after being exposed for 27.2 hours
(time of arrival of fallout H+6.8 subtracted from time of departure, H+34)
exposure values could be calculated.

One badge left outside registered 98 rads;

a badge inside the refrigerator indicated 38 rads; and badges worn by team
members who were both inside and outside showed 50-65 rads.
helped to indicate the length of time of the fallout.

These rates also

The monitoring device

was useful for determining when the fallout began, and at what rate it rose.

Unfortunately, all calculations of rate increase had to be based on indications

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