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Answer _
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There are no routine radiological monitoring programs for radionuclides in
' the ocean.
The volume of water in the ocean is so large and the inputrate
of radionuclides is so small that day-to-day changes in concentration are
infinitesimal.
However, for the past several years there has been considerable
effort to determine levels and distribution of radionuclides in ocean water
samples collected at selected locations at various periods of time.
This
effort is part of the oceanographic programs conducted at locations such as
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; (strontium-9(
‘and cesium 137); Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Le Jolla, California
‘(tritium and cesium-137); the University of Miami, Miami, Florida (tritium);
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:
the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (carbon-14); and the Naval
Oceanographic Office, Washington, D. C. (strontium-90, ete.).° In addition,
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@ number of oceanographers are measuring the radioactivity in marine organisms,
which reflect the radioactivity in the water.
Examples of locations where
-these investigations are being conducted and the organisms being studied are:
_.the Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon (benthic organisms, Plankton,
“ mesopelagic fishes, estuarine organisms, and the University of Washington,
Seattle, Washington (mostly fishes).
‘Since 1963 the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) vessels on location at Latitude
35° §y Longitude 48° W, in the Atlantic Ocean have measured precipitation
amount and collected fallout using a funnel and ion-exchange column unit
supplied by the AEC's Health and Safety Laboratory.
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