involves up to 3 field trips a year to the Northern Marshalls. Measurements
are made of external and in vivo radiation levels.
Samples are collected for
laboratory analysis at Brookhaven National Laboratory to assess the radioactive content in soil,
food-products and humans.
A major component of the
field work involves having representative individuals monitored for radioactivity content in their bodies.
The following is a brief description of the
Safety and Environmental Protection Division's programs in the Marshall
Islands starting from 1974 and covering current activities.
FY 1974
Negotiations between the Division of Operational Safety of the old
Atomic Energy Commission (AECDOS) and the old Health Physics and Safety Division of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNLHPS) resulted in a proposal submis-
sion to begin the Marshall Islands Radiological Safety Program (MIRSP).
Law-
rence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) had and still has a parallel program, Marshall Islands Radioecology, which concentrates on Enewetak and Bikini Atolls.
An orientation field trip was arranged for Greenhouse and Ash of BNLHPS.
They accompanied the BNL Medical Department's spring medical survey to Utirik,
Rongelap and Bikini, in April 1974.
Nelson, of the University of Washington's
Laboratory of Radiation Ecology (UWLRE) also participated in this field trip.
Plans were made to collaborate with UWLRE in the future.
This field trip
included physical examinations, in-vivo whole-body counting and urine bioassay
sampling of all three atoll populations by the BNL medical team.
External
radiation measurements and sampling of groundwater, soil,
fish and
coconut crabs were performed by Greenhouse and Nelson.
plants,