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GEVERKL C ORMESponDEN
Director
Department of Energy
Pacific Area Support Office
P. 0. Box 29939
Honolulu, HI 96820
Dear Bill:
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REMRS,
I've been very negligent in writing detailedtri
operations aboard the Liktanur this past year.
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aboutour
One is easily lulled into
a state of canplacency when there is nothing to complain about and it is
easy to outright forget, when other matters require attention, that it 1s
just or more important to praise an excellent performance as it is to
condemn a poor performance.
Therefore, by this letter, I wish to provide
you my independent evaluation of the operations aboard the Liktanur; the
hospitality and cooperation extended to our group by the crew; and the
adaquacy of the vessel in support of our efforts this past year.
During 1979 we scheduled 3 cruises aboard the Liktanur to conduct a
variety of oceanographic and groundwater studies at Bikini and Enewetak
Atolls. During the pericds 3-27 April, 14-22 June, and 19-26 October,
140 man-days of our effort were expended in the field on the following
aquatic studies:
1)
Sediment sampling program -- over 250 samples of lagoon surface sediment
were collected from Bikini and Enewetak during the year. The purpose
for the collections were (a) to document the present sediment concentra-
tions and distributions of radionuclides and to compare these to
concentrations and distributions measured in 1972 to assess what, if
any, radiological changes have occurred in the Janoon during these
intervening years, (b) to determine what modifications in lagoon
sediment composition have occurred as a result of man's activities at
the atolls; the previous compositional study for comparison was
conducted by Emery in the early 1950's before the major nuclear tests
were held at the atolls, (c) to document, by way of photographs, a
description of the sediment types, composition and benthic organisms
over the entire lagoon. Our previous work has shown that transuranics
and other radionuclides are mobilized from the sedimentary deposits
to the overlying water column where they are subsequently mixed in the
lagoon water mass and are exchanged to the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Unversity of Cahiornia
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