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Lagoon studies of transuranics will continue, providing adequate
ship support is available. The atoll seems to have reached a chemical

steady-state condition with respect to the partitioning of 239*240py
between solution and solid phases of the environment.

Using an

experimentally determined Ky for 239»240py, the dissolved quantity

predicted in equilibrium with the concentrations in sediment agrees
well with recently average measured concentrations In water at both

Enewetak and Bikini Atolls.

characteristics.

The remobilized 239924°py has solution-like

Over the next 250 y, an estimated 50% of the present

233,240py sediment inventory will be remobilized to solution and
discharged to the north equatorial! Pacific.
It has yet to be determined
if biological components of the sediments are an important link in the
remobilization process. Additional temporal data are needed to verify

our estimates of the rate of regenerated plutonium.

Our evidence that

plutonium is remobilized from the sediment to the water is substantial

and leads to the conclusion that similar processes must be occurring
in coastal and other aquatic areas. We are now modeling our data to
show the extent of remobilizatién that may be occurring in coastal and
other waters contaminated only with global fallout.
Less significant marine radiological pathways to man also require

study. For example, the highest plutonium levels in fish were found,
unexpectedly, in samples collected from the ocean reef of Sally tsland.

The gut samples contained contents with 150 pCi/g of 2392240pu,

However,

the concentration of other radionuclides was among the lowest detected
in fish at Enewetak Atol}. These are high isolated plutonium sources
at the atoll! available for uptake by marine organisms. As another
example, a particle high in plutonium was isolated from the gills of
fish caught near Yvonne. Using mass spectrometry we determined the

241py and, with the measured 2*!am concentration, dated the particle.

It originated in the 1958 test series from the non-nuclear test held at

Yvonne.
It is obvious that hot particles are still available to fish on
the reef.
If these nonedible parts of fish are recycled to the
terrestrial environment by man, levels of plutonium of marine origin
could be increased in village areas.

An evaluation of the expected

impacts from those less significant pathways will be made.
MAJOR MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, AND SUBCONTRACT ITEMS:

Estimated Cost

Equipment

FY 1979

FY 1980

Groundwater sampling equipment
(pumps, generators, and in situ
conductivity meters)

$ 4,000

$ 3,000

Air samplers and generators for
reef work
In-situ filtration-preconcentration
system

5,000

.
5,000
Sere 7"

19,

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