Te
Q.
WHY MUST PRECAUTIONS BE TAKEN IN PLANTING PANDANUS TREES Oi! BIKINI?
A.
Pandanus fruit is a native diet staple, supplying certain needed
vitamins.
While there are no Pandanus of edible variety now on
Bikini Island, samples from a nonedible variety have been found
to contain a higher level of both strontium-90 and cesium-137
than other plants grown in the same soil.
The Committee of
experts have made a recommendation for reducing these levels
in the fruit of trees to be planted on Bikini Island by. removing
the top two inches of soil which contains most ofthe radionuclides.
On Eneu there is no need for ‘such precautions since the soil
there contains only a very small amount of radionuclides.
!
8. Q.
WHY WAS IT SUGGESTED THAT THE COCONUT CRAB POPULATION SHOULD BE
REDUCED IN NUMBER?
A.
The coconut erab is a native favorite.
However, it is not de-
sirable that this food be a major part of the diet since the
levels of radioactivity in the crab are somewhat higher then
some other food items.
This consideration is the basis for the
recommendation on erab population reduction.
9. Q.
WHAT ABCUT COCONUTS?
ARE THEY RADIOACTIVE?
Coconuts have been observed to .contain some amounts of radioactivity
but much less than Pandanus fruit.
Suitable planting. ana fertilizing
procedures are expected to reduce even these amounts.
There are
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