DOE ARCHIVES
The external
dose received by the returned Bikinians will
depend upon
where various people are located, and for what periods of time, within the
island complex.
or children.
Location in turn depends upon whether they are men, women,
The returnees (see Age Distribution table) will probably
consist of about equal numbers of men and women.
to be spent in the four radiation domains
The amount of time likely
(village area, beach,
interior,
and lagoon) by the various groups within the population are shown in Table 1.
Probably the most time will be spent in the village area, where the dose rate
is intermediate between beach and interior levels.
The dose rate may be
reduced one half by covering the ground with an inch of clean sand or soil.
This in essence will be done in the village area through the custom of covering the dirt
floor and the yard with several
The expected integral
inches of polished coral pebbles.
dose to the population over various time intervals
starting in 1970 is shown in Table 2.
The actual internal dose derived from eating native foods is somewhat
more difficult to assess.
(1)
As in the past,
However, three points should be borne in mind.
the natives will doubtless take much of their sus-
tenance from the lagoon and ocean.
limited, at
(2)
Edible land plants will be severely
least at first, due to the sparcity of fruit-bearing coconut,
pandanus, ete.
(3)
The Bikinians have become accustomed to eating new
foods, and will probably continue to cat such things as rice,
meat, and powdered milk.
Found in foodstuffs
flour, canned
The only radionuclides of biological importance
collected at Bikini were
90g
l37e, and
25 Re.
Other