would keep them outdoors much of the time.
Older people might have received
the lesser amounts because of their lesser activity and their penchant of
normally staying indoors, or in the shade or at one locale.
for the islands of Rongelap and Sifo
(Ailinginae),
Three, especially
the amounts of radioactivity
present when RadSafe personnel did arrive was so high as to preclude their
staying on the islands long enough to get enough accurate data.
Estimates, or "best guesses'’ can be calculated if some dose rates in the
"area are known, and because -- although radioactive elements are unstable, this
form of instability is a stable characteristic ~- in other words,
of radioactive materials is a known factor.
were arrived at
Basically,
for the four groups of people.
the behavior
this is how the doses
The three major sources upon
which calculations were made are listed and discussed below.
Rongerik
Fortunately, at least for the purposes of dose calculation,
team on Rongerik had radiation badges
the RadSafe
(strips of film, which indicate exposure
to radioactivity) on their persons, outside the building, and inside their
refrigerator in their quarters.
They also had a monitoring device.
From the
differing exposures indicated by the badges after being exposed for 27.2 hours
(time of arrival of fallout H+6.8 subtracted from time of departure, H+34)
exposure values could be calculated.
One badge left outside registered 98 rads;
a badge inside the refrigerator indicated 38 rads; and badges worn by team
members who were both inside and outside showed 50-65 rads.
helped to indicate the length of time of the fallout.
These rates also
The monitoring device
was useful for determining when the fallout began, and at what rate it rose.
Unfortunately, all calculations of rate increase had to be based on indications
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