t
a
2
‘
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may then be about 480 tons per year.
If the copra produced through
the agricultural rehabilitation progrem contains as much 1376
as in the 1967 and 1959 samples, i.e., 114 to 120 pCi/gem, and conSider ing that in producing copra, coconut meat is reduced in weignt by
the sun drying process by as much as 50%, the copra may contain up to
2h0 pCi/gm.
The fertilizing of the new plents which is being done in
the agricultural rehabilitation program may reduce the
137‘Cs levels in the
copra.
The relationship between
137 Cs
in coconut meat and in soil where
coconut trees are growing is not known.
Available soil samples have
come from one place and coconuts from another on Bikini.
It would te
Gesirable to have samples of coconut and soil from the same place and
to fertilize an existing tree to see what change in radioactivity content in the coconut there may be compared to unfertilized trees.
Also,
it would be desirable to have samples from trees wherein 2 inches ofr
top soil were removed as suggested by the Ad Hoc Cormittee for Pandanus
and from trees where both fertilizer and top soil removal were used.
It would be desirable to sample coconut meat and coconut frond
ror 137Cs from existing trees on Bikini.
.
as
If levels in frond and meat
are related in some way, then predictions of coconut meat
137
3Tos could
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ar
ae