Sampling of food plants is limited almost entirely to Bikini and Eneu
Islands.
Only two coconut samples from Aerokojlol and one from Jelete were
collected in 1978.
Coconut and other food crops were unavailable elsewhere.
More data, including the maximum and minimum observed values and various
Statistics, are listed in Appendix E.
The '37¢s concentrations are much higher in vegetation than are 20Sr,
239+240py or 24am. The concentration of 90Sr in coconut, breadfruit,
Papaya,
and banana is
fairly
low;
the
radionuclides in vegetation is very “low.
concentration
of
transuranic
The concentration ratios (C.R.,
defined as the radionuclide concentration in vegetation in pCi/g wet weight
divided by the same radionuclide concentration in soil in pCi/g dry weight)
are listed in Table 32 for !3?cs, 90sy, 239+240py and 241Am in coconut and
Pandanus.
Almost all plants at the Atoll have a C.R. for !37cs greater than
}, and most often in the range of 2 to 5, while the C.R. for 99Sr in the
edible portion of terrestrial food crops is of the order of 0.01.
The exact
Opposite is observed in most soil systems in Europe and the United States.
The result is that estimated doses from 90Sr at these coral islands are very
low even though the concentration of 99Sr in the soil is nearly the same as
that of '37cs.
The C.R. for 239+240py and 24lAm is about 10-4 to 10-5: as a
result of this very low uptake, these radionuclides contribute in only a very
minor way to the radiological dose via the food chain.
.
The concentration of !37Cs and the other radionuclides in plants is also
lognormally distributed, as shown in Figs. 17 to 30; these types of data are
necessary for estimating the final
distribution in the estimated doses at the
atoll.
RADIONUCLIDES IN LAND ANIMALS AND FOWL
The radionuclide concentrations in samples from pigs that were collected
at Bikini and Eneu Islands are given in Table 33.
Some pigs were roaming free
around the islands for various lengths of time prior to sacrifice and some
were penned.
Those that were penned were fed more table scraps and did not
€at as much local food, e.g., crabs, coconuts, and other local
vegetation, as
oo
on
tod
ah
Lane
the free-roaming pigs; as a result, the !37Cs concentration observed in muscle
tissue in the penned pigs is less than that observed in the free-roaming
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