EXPOSURE
ATOLLS

TO

le,

Lessard,

TT.

FALLOUT:

IR.

THE

P.

lr. A. Conard and 2T. McCraw

RADIATION

DOSE

Miltenberger,

EXPERIENCE

‘'S.

H.

AT

Cohn,

RONGELAP

35.

V.

AND

UTIRIK

Musolino, |

lBrookhaven
National
Laboratory,
Upton,
New York
11973,
U.S.A.
and
2Departnent of Energy, Office of Operational Safety, Washington, DC
20545,

U.S.A.

From June 1946 to August 1958, the U.S. Department of Defense and the
Atonic Energy Commission conducted nuclear weapons tests in the Northern

Marshall Islands.
series,
produced

On March 1, 1954,
a
lJlarge
amount

shift.

to

subsequently
In

fell

order

on Rongelap and
avoid

BRAVO, an aboveground test in the Castle
of
radioactive
debris,
some
of
which

Utirik Atolls

external

and

due

internal

to

dose

an

from

wnexpected
the

wind

deposited

radioactivity,
affected area,

the inhabitants of these atolls were relocated out of the
They returned to Utirik in June 1954 and to Rongelap in June

were

of

1957.
Environmental and personnel radiological monitoring
programs were
initiated in the mid 1950's by Brookhaven National Laboratory.
The objective
was to maintain a comprehensive radiological safety progran.
Post-return
body-burden histories and activity-ingestion rate patterns were determined as

estimates

internal

committed

effective

dose

equivalent.

External

exposure rate and living pattern data were also collected.
Relationships
between body burden or urine activity concentration and a declining continuous
intake scenario were developed in order to model retrospective and prospective
dose equivalent (See Figure 1).
The dosimetric conclusions for the protracted
exposure are summarized in Table l.

Figure 1:

atoll.

Body burden history for Rongelap adults post return to their hone

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