respectively; and 28.2 + 3.8 for Area 13 (Project 57). The four sites located
on TTR contained inventory estimates of 0.39 + .12, 0.54 + .27, 2.6 + .38, and

5.7 + 1.4 for Double Track, and Clean Slate 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Comparisons of soil and vegetation inventory estimates (Table 3, last column) indicate

that the standing vegetation contributes an insignificant portion of the total
amount of 239°240py present in these aged fallout areas. With the exception

of an anomalous condition represented by the test of Area 11, Site A (which in
view of the large S.E. may be unreliable), the level of contamination attri-

butable to standing vegetation accounted for only one to six ten-thousandths
of that estimated for soil.

It seems safe to conclude, therefore,

that the

amounts of 239°249py in or on vegetation which are available for grazing
animals is relatively small compared to the total amounts deposited in these
aged fallout areas.

In view of findings that the vegetation of these fallout areas is being contaminated by resuspendable materials, it seems important to consider the role that
this same vegetation also plays in limiting this contamination to the low
levels actually encountered.
There is no doubt that vegetation acts as a
windbreak against wind-driven erosional processes.
It is safe to assume that
the level of contamination for vegetation in these stabilized fallout areas is
much less now than it would be in surrounding areas, should these sites ever
become denuded.
One of the best safeguards for keeping the soil contaminant
in its present location within each area is to maintain the integrity of the
standing vegetation.
Preliminary Estimate of Uranium Inventory for Vegetation of Aged Fallout Areas
Some data are given in Tables 4 and 5 concerning the average concentrations
and estimated inventory of total uranium for different fallout areas.
These
data are preliminary in the sense that they represent only about 20 percent of
the total number of vegetation samples collected for estimating inventory at

the "safety test" sites.

Samples to ascertain natural background have not

been analyzed, so the data now presented have not been adjusted to account for

that portion which might have been derived from the source material of the

test devices.
Updated estimates and discussion of findings will appear in
future progress reports since too few data presently are available to ascertain

the significance of these preliminary results and their relationship to original

fallout deposition.

Table 6 lists in entory estimates of the different uranium radionuclides for
vegetation of Avea 11, Site A.
The details of the work done at this site and

some data for soil and vegetation have been reported earlier by Gilbert and
Eberhardt (1975). and Gilbert et aZ. (1975b). The area sampled for Site A

consisted of three strata defined on the basis of Ge(Li) scans for 235y on
soil collected on a grid system.
The land area represented by these three
strata is about 480 m* for stratum 3; 7,700 m* for stratum 2; and 126,000 m@
for stratum 1.
The total land area involved is about 134,000 m@.

The contamination of vegetation samples with any radionuclide was highest for

samples collected nearest ground zero in stratum 3; lowest levels of contamination were found on vegetation located farther away from ground zero in
stratum 1.
Summation of the amounts estimated for the different strata give

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