- 26 -
during,
and after the tests.
Foodstuffs were also sampled from
ten islands located in an area extending from 5°N to 22°S
latitude and from 173°E to 155°W longitude.
Pre-Dominic samples were expected to contain fallout
radionuclides from previous British, United States, or U.S.S.R.
tests.
In the pre-Dominic samples zinc-65,
duct, was predominant
(Palumbo,
1963).
a non-fission pro-
The values in the fish
ranged from 0.78 to 4.4 pc/g wet weight.
Postshot samples of fish from seven islands
contained radionuclides which indicate the presence
of fallout from the Dominic series.
in fish from Canton and Christmas,
I131 was found
and Washington,
Bal40_pal40 in fish from Canton and Christmas,
Zr95—-NbI5,
Fiji,
Rul93
Malden,
and cel41,144
Penrhyn,
from Samoa,
Christmas,
and
Canton,
and Washington.
The highest values generally were found in samples
from Christmas,
Canton and Fiji,
samples from Penrhyn,
Rarotonga,
and the
lowest in
and Tongatapu.
The
highest value for any of the nuclides was 25 picocuries of zi3l per gram of wet pigfish
Canton Island.
liver from
The majority of the values were
below 1 pce/g wet.
K49, a naturally occurring
nuclide, was present in most samples,
averaging
3.8 pe/g wet for fish from all islands,
and was the
greatest single contributor to the total radioactivity of the samples.
(Palumbo,
1963)