Univ. of Washington, Seattle Publication Date: 1963 167-9 p. Publ: Reinhold Publishing Corporation; Washington, D.C., The American Institute of Biological Sciences Journal Announcement: NSA17 Document Type: Book Analytic t Language: English The qualitative distribution of radionuclides at Rongelap Atoll as determined approximately five years after contamination by fallout from a thermonuclear device indicates distinct differences between the terrestrial and marine environments. The levels of radioactivity are low, the concentrations being less than the maximum permissible concentration for radionuclides in food or drinking water of man. Of the wide spectrum of radionuclides concentrated in the surface layers of the soil, strontium-90, antimony125, and cesium-137 are the principal nuclides entering into the soil solution. The principal nuclides in the land plants and plant-eating animals such as coconut crabs and the indigenous rats are cesium-137 and, to a lesser degree, strontium-90. Bottom sediments contain mainly strontium-90 and europium-155. The radionuclides in the lagoon water have not been detected but are probably present in minute amounts. Planktonic organisms contain traces of manganese-54, cobalt-57, 60, zinc-65, zirconium95, ruthenium-106, and cerium-144. The principal nuclide found in the marine algae is cerium-144. In the marine invertebrates cobalt-60 and zinc-65 occur most commonly. Corals and coralline algae contain some strontium-90, while the fish and sea birds are found to contain mostly zinc-65. The presence of zinc-65, cesium-137, and strontium-90 in the body of the natives reflects a diet of both marine and terrestrial origin. (auth) Descriptors: ALGAE ANIMALS BIRDS CALCIUM CARBONATES CONFERENCE CONTAMINATION CORALS CRABS DEPOSITS DIET DISTRIBUTION ENVIRONMENT FALLOUT FISH FOOD ISLANDS MAN MICROORGANISMS NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS PACIFIC OCEAN PLANKTON PLANTS RADIOACTIVITY RATS SEA SOILS WATER; ANTIMONY 125 CERIUM 144 CESIUM 137 COBALT 57 COBALT 60 EUROPIUM 155 MANGANESE 54 RUTHENIUM 106 STRONTIUM 90 ZINC 65 ZIRCONIUM 95 10/5/136 243583 (NSA): BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE (Item 136 from file: NSA-17-033557 109) RADIOACTIVITY OF MARINE ORGANISMS FROM GUAM, 1958-1959, "Radioecology" Seymour, A.H. Univ. of Washington, , PALAU AND THE GULF OF SIAM, Seattle Publication Date: 1963 151-7 p. Publ: Reinhold Publishing Corporation; Washington, Institute of Biological Sciences Journal Announcement: NSA17 D.C., The American Document Type: Book Analytic Language: English ™ Following the Hardtack weapons test series at Bikini and Eniwetok in 1958, samples of fish, crabs, lobsters, snails, clams, algae, and plankton were collected at Guam, Palau, and in the Gulf of Siam for radiological analyses. The collecting areas were 1,200, 1,950, and 4,250 miles, 500329 Subject Codes respectively, west of the test site. The gross beta activity was determined for all samples and the gamma-emitting nuclides were identified in selected samples. The rate of westward transport of local fallout from the Hardtack series by the North Equatorial Current was estimated at eight miles per day between the test site and Guam and Palau. The criterion for the arrival of the fallout at the collecting area was a significant increase in the gross beta count of certain biological samples. The levels of radioactivity were considerably different for samples from the three collecting areas: the counts of samples from Guam were notably higher than those from Palau, which in turn. were very much higher than those from the Gulf of Siam, which were essentially at background level for all collections. The gross beta counts of fish muscle from all areas and from all collections were constant and less than seven micromicrocuries per gram of wet weight. The samples with the highest gross beta counts were clam kidney and spider snail liver,