APPENDIX V"
Brief Summary of the Radiological Status of the Bikini Atoll
Philip F. Gustafson
Fallout Studies Branch
Division of Biology and Medicine
May 1968
A number of radiological surveys of Bikini Atoll have been made since
1946.
The most recent survey was conducted in April and May 1967.
The
main effort was devoted to the measurement of ambient radiation levels using
several types of detectors.
The external radiation field was mapped in con-
siderable detail on Bikini and Eneu Islands, and less thoroughly on the
remainder of the atoll.
The various radionuclides and their concentrations
which gave rise to the observed radiation field were determined from field
gamma-ray spectrometry.
Representative samples of local plants and animals
which might be eaten by the returning natives were collected and have been
”
analyzed for radioactivity.
The results of the 1967 survey provide a basis for making reasonable
estimates of the total
(external plus internal) radiation exposure which
the Bikinians might receive over the coming years,
‘atoll.
if they return to the
Background radiation on the atoll is due almost exclusively to
cosmic radiation,
and there are only trace amounts of the naturaliy occurring
radioclements in the area.
Except in the immediate vicinity of nuclear
detonations, the composition of the residual gamma-ray radioactivity was
similar
throughout
the atoll,
,, 00
125
20%
Co, and 10%
Sb.
consisting of about
Variations
70% 13765 |
.
.
in intensity were observed
to place; Eneu was the least contaminated,
from place
followed by Bikini Island itself.
A dose gradient existed across Bikini, with lowest levels on the beach arcas,
and highest values
in the heavily overgrown interior.