TABLE 3,.4—Beta and GammaActivity of Fish from Rongelap Lagoon*
(3 months postdetonation)
Fish No. 1 (802 g)
Gross activity
(uc)
Barium, strontium,
Beta Gamma
Total activity (%)
and rare earth;
Radiochemical analysis
in barium, strontium, and
rare-earth fraction (%)
Sr®?
Ba!” Rare earth
Head
0.568
1.26
9.9
38.3
9.6
52.1
Scales, fins and tail
0.500
0.58
9.5
17.4
9.9
72.7
Viscera
Gills
Remainder of body
Total
0.900
0.160
0.596
2.36
0.43
1.78
2.724
6.41
48.0
7.8
8.3
14
13.9
45.2
0.6
6.7
11.2
Fish No, 2 (507 g)
Fish No. 3 (168 g)
Grossactivity (uc)
Grossactivity (uc)
Head
Scales, fins, and tail
Viscera
Gills
Skeleton
Muscle
Total
Beta
Gamma
Beta
Gamma
0.101
0.067
1.620
0.0438
0.197
0.151
0.23
0.23
2.14
0.08
0.35
0.53
0.045
0.058
0.115
0.023
0.030
0.038
0.017
0.084
0.205
0.011
0.070
0.074
2.179
3.58
0.301
0.461
98.0
79.4
43.6
Clam No. 1
Total beta activity —6.4 x 10° dis/min
Radiochemical analysis
Radioelement
zré
Total
activity (%)
21.4
Ryl0s,i06
32.4
Other
11.4
sr®
0.7
Bal
0.7
Rare earths
33.4
*Samples collected two months postdetonation.
At 4 months postdetonation the alkaline earths comprised less than 2 per centof the total
activity in the clam (Table 3.4). The rare-earth group constituted 33 per cent of the total beta
activity. The balance of the activity was contributed chiefly by Zr® (21 per cent) and Ru!®3,19¢
(32 per cent). About 50 per cent of the material found in the viscera of the fish was of the rare-
earth group. Very small amounts of strontium and barium werefound. In the tissues of the
fish, strontium, barium, and the rare earths contributed only about 10 per cent of the total
activity.
3.3
AUTORADIOGRAPHS
A numberof autoradiographsof the tibiae and femurs of 1 chick, 4 pigs, 1 rooster, and 2
chickens were prepared both at NRDL and at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to deter-
28