Fission- and alpha-track study of biogeochemistry of plutonium and uranium in carbonates of bikini and enewetak atolls. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Levy, Y.; Friedman, G. M.; Miller, D. S.

1978-12-31

Results of the analysis of uranium concentrations in the 8 coral heads sampled from the Bikini and Enewetak lagoons lead to the following conclusions: (1) no parallel increase in uranium concentration was found in the corals contaminated by Pu and Am; (2) in the noncontaminated corals, the fission track analysis shows wider ranges of uranium concentrations (1.8 to 3.1). Thus, in the corals not contaminated by Pu and Am, uranium concentrations similar to the uranium concentration in the contaminated corals were found; (3) uranium content in all corals analyzed was rather homogeneously distributed, i.e., no hot spots, stars, or areasmore » differing in concentration by more than a few percent were detected by the fission track analyses.« less

Comparative incidences of decompression illness in repetitive, staged, mixed-gas decompression diving: is 'dive fitness' an influencing factor?

PubMed

Sayer, Martin Dj; Akroyd, Jim; Williams, Guy D

2008-06-01

Wreck diving at Bikini Atoll consists of a relatively standard series of decompression dives with maximum depths in the region of 45-55 metres' sea water (msw). In a typical week of diving at Bikini, divers can perform up to 12 decompression dives to these depths over seven days; on five of those days, divers can perform two decompression dives per day. All the dives employ multi-level, staged decompression schedules using air and surface-supplied nitrox containing 80% oxygen. Bikini is serviced by a single diving operator and so a relatively precise record exists both of the actual number of dives undertaken and of the decompression illness incidents both for customer divers and the dive guides. The dive guides follow exactly the dive profiles and decompression schedules of the customers. Each dive guide will perform nearly 400 decompression dives a year, with maximum depths mostly around 50 msw, compared with an average of 10 (maximum of 12) undertaken typically by each customer diver in a week. The incidence of decompression illness for the customer population (presumed in the absence of medical records) is over ten times higher than that for the dive guides. The physiological reasons for such a marked difference are discussed in terms of customer demographics and dive-guide acclimatization to repetitive decompression stress. The rates of decompression illness for a range of diving populations are reviewed.

Certified reference materials for radionuclides in Bikini Atoll sediment (IAEA-410) and Pacific Ocean sediment (IAEA-412).

PubMed

Pham, M K; van Beek, P; Carvalho, F P; Chamizo, E; Degering, D; Engeler, C; Gascó, C; Gurriaran, R; Hanley, O; Harms, A V; Herrmann, J; Hult, M; Ikeuchi, Y; Ilchmann, C; Kanisch, G; Kis-Benedek, G; Kloster, M; Laubenstein, M; Llaurado, M; Mas, J L; Nakano, M; Nielsen, S P; Osvath, I; Povinec, P P; Rieth, U; Schikowski, J; Smedley, P A; Suplinska, M; Sýkora, I; Tarjan, S; Varga, B; Vasileva, E; Zalewska, T; Zhou, W

2016-03-01

The preparation and characterization of certified reference materials (CRMs) for radionuclide content in sediments collected offshore of Bikini Atoll (IAEA-410) and in the open northwest Pacific Ocean (IAEA-412) are described and the results of the certification process are presented. The certified radionuclides include: (40)K, (210)Pb ((210)Po), (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (228)Th, (232)Th, (234)U, (238)U, (239)Pu, (239+240)Pu and (241)Am for IAEA-410 and (40)K, (137)Cs, (210)Pb ((210)Po), (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (228)Th, (232)Th, (235)U, (238)U, (239)Pu, (240)Pu and (239+240)Pu for IAEA-412. The CRMs can be used for quality assurance and quality control purposes in the analysis of radionuclides in sediments, for development and validation of analytical methods and for staff training. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The surgical management of benign and malignant thyroid neoplasms in Marshall Islanders exposed to hydrogen bomb fallout.

PubMed

Dobyns, B M; Hyrmer, B A

1992-01-01

On March 1, 1954, a serious fallout accident occurred during the United States atomic testing program at Bikini in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Following the detonation of a large thermonuclear device (known as Bravo) an unexpected shift in winds resulted in deposition of radioactive debris on several inhabited atolls in the Marshall Islands. During the early post-detonation period military, sea, and air surveys traced the hottest portion of the parabolic cloud as it drifted in an ever widening pattern of diminishing concentration eastward and southeast of Bikini. The center of the cloud passed North of the Rongelap Atoll, which was the nearest inhabited atoll. This report concerns the development of thyroid lesions, the special circumstances encountered during thyroid surgery, and the results of the surgical management of benign and malignant lesions that were subsequently encountered in this population.

Effect of Potassium on Uptake of 137Cs in Food Crops Grown on Coral Soils: Annual Crops at Bikini Atoll

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stone, E R; Robinson, W

2002-02-01

In 1954 a radioactive plume from the thermonuclear device code named BRAVO contaminated the principal residential islands, Eneu and Bikini, of Bikini Atoll (11{sup o} 36 minutes N; 165{sup o} 22 minutes E), now part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The resulting soil radioactivity diminished greatly over the three decades before the studies discussed below began. By that time the shorter-lived isotopes had all but disappeared, but strontium-90 ({sup 90}Sr), and cesium-137, ({sup 137}Cs) were reduced by only one half-life. Minute amounts of the long-lived isotopes, plutonium-239+240 ({sup 239+240}Pu) and americium-241 ({sup 241}Am), were present in soil, butmore » were found to be inconsequential in the food chain of humans and land animals. Rather, extensive studies demonstrated that the major concern for human health was {sup 137}Cs in the terrestrial food chain (Robison et al., 1983; Robison et al., 1997). The following papers document results from several studies between 1986 and 1997 aimed at minimizing the {sup 137}Cs content of annual food crops. The existing literature on radiocesium in soils and plant uptake is largely a consequence of two events: the worldwide fallout of 1952-58, and the fallout from Chernobyl. The resulting studies have, for the most part, dealt either with soils containing some amount of silicate clays and often with appreciable K, or with the short-term development of plants in nutrient cultures.« less

Somatic mutation frequencies in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia grown in soil samples from the Bikini Island.

PubMed

Ichikawa, S; Ishii, C

1991-02-01

Somatic pink mutation frequencies in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia BNL 02 clone grown for 76 days in two soil samples taken from the Bikini Island (where a hydrogen bomb explosion test had been conducted in 1954) were investigated. A significantly high mutation frequency (2.58 +/- 0.17 pink mutant events per 10(3) hairs or 1.34 +/- 0.09 pink mutant events per 10(4) hair-cell divisions) was observed for the plant grown in one of the two Bikini soil samples, as compared to the control plants (1.70 +/- 0.14 or 0.88 +/- 0.07, respectively) grown in the field soil of Saitama University. The soil sample which caused the significant increase in mutation frequency contained 6,880 +/- 330 mBq/g 137Cs, 62.5 +/- 4.4 mBq/g 60Co, and some other nuclides; a 150 microR/hr exposure rate being measured on the surface of the soil sample. The effective cumulative external exposures measured for the inflorescences of the plant grown in this soil sample averaged at most 60.8 mR, being too small to explain the significant elevation in mutation frequency observed. On the other hand, internal exposure due to uptake of radioactive nuclides was estimated to be 125 mrad (1.25 mGy) as an accumulated effective dose, mainly based on a gamma-spectrometrical analysis. However, it seemed highly likely that this value of internal exposure was a considerable underestimate, and the internal exposure was considered to be more significant than the external exposure.

OPERATION CASTLE - Project 4.1 Addendum. Report of the Scientific Director, Exposure of Marshall Islanders and American Military Personnel to Fallout. Extracted Version,

DTIC Science & Technology

Fallout, *Radiation injuries, Exposure(General), Radioactive materials, Nuclear explosion testing, Bikini Atoll, Indigenous population, Marshall ... Islands , Military forces(United States), Villages, Decontamination, Lesions, Therapy, Hematology, Dosimetry

Removal of Polyacrylamide Gel (Aquamid®) from the Lip as a Solution for Late-Onset Complications: Our 8-Year Experience.

PubMed

Kästner, Sonja; Gonser, Phillipp; Paprottka, Felix; Kaye, Kai O

2018-06-01

The polyacrylamide hydrogel Aquamid ® has been used as a permanent filler to enhance facial soft tissue volume and correct wrinkles since 2001. Various long-term studies have proved the safety of the product. Nonetheless, if complications such as migration occur, they can be difficult to treat. Eleven patients suffering from late-onset complications after taking Aquamid ® injections in the lips underwent product removal and subsequent labial reconstruction between 2009 and 2017. The reconstruction was performed using a modified bikini reduction technique combined, in eight cases, with immediate autologous fat grafting. In all the patients, general fibrosis and a diffused distribution of the product within all three layers of the lips resulted in the need for labial reconstruction. Migration, as far as in the mucosa and perioral skin, accounted for macroscopically visible yellowish accumulations. In ten out of eleven cases, an individually modified bikini reduction technique, with or without any combination of autologous fat grafting, led to an esthetically satisfying result. One patient developed a severe upper lip necrosis. Contradictory to several previous studies attesting to the lack of migration after Aquamid ® application to the lips, capsule formation around the product is impaired, allowing for migration even years after the injection. Product aspiration is not possible in these cases, thus necessitating complex lip reconstruction. Bikini reduction and fat grafting are valuable tools for labial reconstruction. Product residuals within the mucosa have to be accepted. Special care has to be taken while treating smokers. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Doses from external irradiation to Marshall Islanders from Bikini and Enewetak nuclear weapons tests.

PubMed

Bouville, André; Beck, Harold L; Simon, Steven L

2010-08-01

Annual doses from external irradiation resulting from exposure to fallout from the 65 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted in the Marshall Islands at Bikini and Enewetak between 1946 and 1958 have been estimated for the first time for Marshallese living on all inhabited atolls. All tests that deposited fallout on any of the 23 inhabited atolls or separate reef islands have been considered. The methodology used to estimate the radiation doses at the inhabited atolls is based on test- and location-specific radiation survey data, deposition density estimates of 137Cs, and fallout times-of-arrival provided in a companion paper (Beck et al.), combined with information on the radionuclide composition of the fallout at various times after each test. These estimates of doses from external irradiation have been combined with corresponding estimates of doses from internal irradiation, given in a companion paper (Simon et al.), to assess the cancer risks among the Marshallese population (Land et al.) resulting from exposure to radiation from the nuclear weapons tests.

Popcorn from the Sky.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelin, Daniel A., II

2001-01-01

Describes how one Hawaiian elementary teacher uses drama and folklore to teach students about historic events and human rights, guiding students through an active, hands-on reconstruction of a dramatic historic event (nuclear testing in the Bikini Atoll) and providing just enough information at each step of the story to elicit accurate, emotional…

For the relief of the peoples of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utrik, and of other affected citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Rep. Faleomavaega, Eni F. H. [D-AS-At Large

2010-12-01

House - 12/20/2010 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Analysis of radiation exposure for naval units of Operation Crossroads. Volume 3. (Appendix B) support ships. Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weitz, R.; Thomas, C.; Klemm, J.

1982-03-03

External radiation doses are reconstructed for crews of support and target ships of Joint Task Force One at Operation CROSSROADS, 1946. Volume I describes the reconstruction methodology, which consists of modeling the radiation environment, to include the radioactivity of lagoon water, target ships, and support ship contamination; retracing ship paths through this environment; and calculating the doses to shipboard personnel. The USS RECLAIMER, a support ship, is selected as a representative ship to demonstrate this methodology. Doses for all other ships are summarized. Volume II (Appendix A) details the results for target ship personnel. Volume III (Appendix B) details themore » results for support ship personnel. Calculated doses for more than 36,000 personnel aboard support ships while at Bikini range from zero to 1.7 rem. Of those approximately 34,000 are less than 0.5 rem. From the models provided, doses due to target ship reboarding and doses accrued after departure from Bikini can be calculated, based on the individual circumstances of exposure.« less

Analysis of radiation exposure for naval units of Operation Crossroads. Volume 2. (Appendix A) target ships. Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weitz, R.; Thomas, C.; Klemm, J.

1982-03-03

External radiation doses are reconstructed for crews of support and target ships of Joint Task Force One at Operation CROSSROADS, 1946. Volume I describes the reconstruction methodology, which consists of modeling the radiation environment, to include the radioactivity of lagoon water, target ships, and support ship contamination; retracing ship paths through this environment; and calculating the doses to shipboard personnel. The USS RECLAIMER, a support ship, is selected as a representative ship to demonstrate this methodology. Doses for all other ships are summarized. Volume II (Appendix A) details the results for target ship personnel. Volume III (Appendix B) details themore » results for support ship personnel. Calculated doses for more than 36,000 personnel aboard support ships while at Bikini range from zero to 1.7 rem. Of those, approximately 34,000 are less than 0.5 rem. From the models provided, doses due to target ship reboarding and doses accrued after departure from Bikini can be calculated, based on the individual circumstances of exposure.« less

Exposure to thin-ideal media affect most, but not all, women: Results from the Perceived Effects of Media Exposure Scale and open-ended responses.

PubMed

Frederick, David A; Daniels, Elizabeth A; Bates, Morgan E; Tylka, Tracy L

2017-12-01

Findings conflict as to whether thin-ideal media affect women's body satisfaction. Meta-analyses of experimental studies reveal small or null effects, but many women endorse appearance-related media pressure in surveys. Using a novel approach, two samples of women (Ns=656, 770) were exposed to bikini models, fashion models, or control conditions and reported the effects of the images their body image. Many women reported the fashion/bikini models made them feel worse about their stomachs (57%, 64%), weight (50%, 56%), waist (50%, 56%), overall appearance (50%, 56%), muscle tone (46%, 52%), legs (45%, 48%), thighs (40%, 49%), buttocks (40%, 43%), and hips (40%, 46%). In contrast, few women (1-6%) reported negative effects of control images. In open-ended responses, approximately one-third of women explicitly described negative media effects on their body image. Findings revealed that many women perceive negative effects of thin-ideal media in the immediate aftermath of exposures in experimental settings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

41Ca, 14C and 10Be concentrations in coral sand from the Bikini atoll.

PubMed

Lachner, Johannes; Christl, Marcus; Alfimov, Vasily; Hajdas, Irka; Kubik, Peter W; Schulze-König, Tim; Wacker, Lukas; Synal, Hans-Arno

2014-03-01

Activation measurements of materials exposed to nuclear bomb explosions are widely used to reconstruct the neutron flux for retrospective dosimetry. In this study the applicability of coral CaCO3 as a biogenic neutron fluence dosimeter is tested. The long-lived radioisotopes (41)Ca, (14)C and (10)Be, which had been produced in nuclear bomb explosions, are measured in several coral sand samples from the Bikini atoll at the 600 kV and 200 kV AMS facilities of ETH Zurich. Elevated concentrations of all studied isotopes are found in a sample from the crater that was initially formed by the high-yield nuclear explosion Castle Bravo in 1954 and that had been used as site for several tests afterward. The observed (14)C concentration is considered too large to originate from neutron irradiation of CaCO3 alone. The relatively low concentration of (10)Be found in the crater sample indicates that production of (10)Be during nuclear bomb testing is generally minor. A simple neutron fluence reconstruction is performed on basis of the (41)Ca/(40)Ca ratio. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Female condoms scheduled to reach U.S. market this year.

PubMed

1991-08-01

3 female condoms, or "vaginal pouches" as they are called by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) are expected to be marketed in the US in 1991, the Bikini Condom from International Prophylactics Inc., Princeton NJ; Women's Choice from M.D. Personal Products, Hayward CA; and Reality from Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., Jackson, WI. The advantages of the female condoms are control for women over contraception and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), availability over the counter, no need for spermicides, thicker than male condoms with better barrier effectiveness and less breakage and slippage, and reported heightened sensation for women. The disadvantages are difficulty for inexperienced women to insert, unappealing appearance of part of device protruding from vagina, interference with foreplay, cost of $1.50-$2.40 each, few reports of vaginal irritation. The Bikini Condom looks like a G-string panty with a condom pouch that is automatically introduced into the vagina with coitus. Bikini had a breakage rate of 0.5%, compared to 1-2% for male condoms, an acceptance level of 56%, and can be used 5-10 times. It effectively blocked STDs and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Women's Choice has a 2-inch diameter flexible ring that covers the introitus, and a thickened dome of latex resembling a diaphragm at the deep end, lubricated with silicone. 20% of women reported increased clitoral and labial sensation during use. It prevented transfer of semen acid phosphatase, and enzyme smaller than STDs and viruses. Reality condom is a polyurethane sheath with an inner ring similar to a diaphragm, but fitting more loosely, and an outer ring covering part of the vulva, all inserted with an applicator. It had a leakage rate of 0.6% compared to 3.5% for male condoms, and a slippage rate of 2.7% compared to 8.1% slippage and breakage of male condoms. 5% of users reported vaginal irritation. 65% of women and 80% of men liked Reality. Generally people in female condom trials either strongly liked or disliked them. They are so novel that they appeal to people with an "open mind," and to those with experience with condoms and other barrier methods.

Resuspension studies in the Marshall Islands.

PubMed

Shinn, J H; Homan, D N; Robison, W L

1997-07-01

The contribution of inhalation exposure to the total dose for residents of the Marshall Islands was monitored at occasions of opportunity on several islands in the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. To determine the long-term potential for inhalation exposure, and to understand the mechanisms of redistribution and personal exposure, additional investigations were undertaken on Bikini Island under modified and controlled conditions. Experiments were conducted to provide key parameters for the assessment of inhalation exposure from plutonium-contaminated dust aerosols: characterization of the contribution of plutonium in soil-borne aerosols as compared to sea spray and organic aerosols, determination of plutonium resuspension rates as measured by the meteorological flux-gradient method during extreme conditions of a bare-soil vs. a stabilized surface, determination of the approximate individual exposures to resuspended plutonium by traffic, and studies of exposures to individuals in different occupational environments simulated by personal air sampling of workers assigned to a variety of tasks. Enhancement factors (defined as ratios of the plutonium-activity of suspended aerosols relative to the plutonium-activity of the soil) were determined to be less than 1 (typically 0.4 to 0.7) in the undisturbed, vegetated areas, but greater than 1 (as high as 3) for the case studies of disturbed bare soil, roadside travel, and for occupational duties in fields and in and around houses.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W; Stone, E; Hamilton, T

Bikini Island was contaminated March 1, 1954 by the Bravo detonation (U.S nuclear test series, Castle) at Bikini Atoll. About 90% of the estimated dose from nuclear fallout to potential island residents is from cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) transferred from soil to plants that are consumed by residents. Thus, radioecology research efforts have been focused on removing {sup 137}Cs from soil and/or reducing its uptake into vegetation. Most effective was addition of potassium (K) to soil that reduces {sup 137}Cs concentration in fruits to 3-5% of pretreatment concentrations. Initial observations indicated this low concentration continued for some time after K wasmore » last applied. Long-term studies were designed to evaluate this persistence in more detail because it is very important to provide assurance to returning populations that {sup 137}Cs concentrations in food (and, therefore, radiation dose) will remain low for extended periods, even if K is not applied annually or biennially. Potassium applied at 300, 660, 1260, and 1970 kg ha{sup -1} lead to a {sup 137}Cs concentration in drinking coconut meat that is 34, 22, 10, and about 4 % of original concentration, respectively. Concentration of {sup 137}Cs remains low 8 to 10 y after K is last applied. An explanation for this unexpected result is discussed.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W L; Stone, E L; Hamilton, T F

Bikini Island was contaminated March 1, 1954 by the Bravo detonation (U.S nuclear test series, Castle) at Bikini Atoll. About 90% of the estimated dose from nuclear fallout to potential island residents is from cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) transferred from soil to plants that are consumed by residents. Thus, radioecology research efforts have been focused on removing {sup 137}Cs from soil and/or reducing its uptake into vegetation. Most effective was addition of potassium (K) to soil that reduces {sup 137}Cs concentration in fruits to 3-5% of pretreatment concentrations. Initial observations indicated this low concentration continued for some time after K wasmore » last applied. Long-term studies were designed to evaluate this persistence in more detail because it is very important to provide assurance to returning populations that {sup 137}Cs concentrations in food (and, therefore, radiation dose) will remain low for extended periods, even if K is not applied annually or biennially. Potassium applied at 300, 660, 1260, and 2070 kg ha{sup -1} lead to a {sup 137}Cs concentration in drinking coconut meat that is 34, 22, 10, and about 4% of original concentration, respectively. Concentration of {sup 137}Cs remains low 8 to 10 y after K is last applied. An explanation for this unexpected result is discussed.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W L; Hamilton, T F

The United States conducted 24 nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll with a total yield of 76.8 Megatons (MT). The Castle series produced about 60% of this total and included the Bravo test that was the primary source of contamination of Bikini Island and Rongelap and Utrok Atolls. One of three aerial drops missed the atoll and the second test of the Crossroads series, the Baker test, was an underwater detonation. Of the rest, 17 were on barges on water and 3 were on platforms on an island; they produced most of the contamination of islands at the atoll. There weremore » 42 tests conducted at Enewetak Atoll with a total yield of 31.7 MT (Simon and Robison, 1997; UNSCEAR, 2000). Of these tests, 18 were on a barge over wateror reef, 7 were surface shots, 2 aerial drops, 2 under water detonations, and 13 tower shots on either land or reef. All produced some contamination of various atoll islands. Rongelap Atoll received radioactive fallout as a result of the Bravo test on March 1, 1954 that was part of the Castle series of tests. This deposition was the result of the Bravo test producing a yield of 15 MT, about a factor of three to four greater than the predicted yield that resulted in vaporization of more coral reef and island than expected and in the debris-cloud reaching a much higher altitude than anticipated. High-altitude winds were to the east at the time of detonation and carried the debris-cloud toward Rongelap Atoll. Utrok Atoll also received fallout from the Bravo test but at much lower air and ground-level concentrations than at Rongelap atoll. Other atolls received Bravo fallout at levels below that of Utrok [other common spellings of this island and atoll (Simon, et al., 2009)]. To avoid confusion in reading other literature, this atoll and island are spelled in a variety of ways (Utrik, Utirik, Uterik or Utrok). Dose assessments for Bikini Island at Bikini Atoll (Robison et al., 1997), Enjebi Island at Enewetak Atoll (Robison et al., 1987), Rongelap Island at Rongelap Atoll (Robison et al., 1994; Simon et al., 1997), and Utrok Island at Utrok Atoll (Robison, et al., 1999) indicate that about 95-99% of the total estimated dose to people who may return to live at the atolls today (Utrok Island is populated) is the result of exposure to {sup 137}Cs. External gamma exposure from {sup 137}Cs in the soil accounts for about 10 to 15% of the total dose and {sup 137}Cs ingested during consumption of local food crops such as drinking coconut meat and fluid (Cocos nucifera L.), copra meat and milk, Pandanus fruit, and breadfruit accounts for about 85 to 90%. The other 1 to 2% of the estimated dose is from {sup 90}Sr, {sup 239+240}Pu, and {sup 241}Am. The {sup 90}Sr exposure is primarily through the food chain while the exposure to {sup 239+240}Pu, and {sup 241}Am is primarily via the inhalation pathway as a result of breathing re-suspended soil particles.« less

Operation IVY: 1952

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

USS Yuma had sailed from the proving ground on 8 November, before KING. During KING, Curtiss and Leo were at Kwa- "jalein, and LST-836 was at Bikini...KING Pacific Proving Ground 20. ABSTRACT (Contiru anm reywra, siate It necesaery amd identlfy by block number) IVY was a two-detonation atmospheric...in the Atomic Energy C0unmission’s (AEC) Pacific Proving Ground at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands during autumn 1952. The series consisted of

Bikini scientific resurvey. Volume II. Report of the technical director. Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1947-12-01

Contents: Island and Reef Geology; Submarine Geology; Drilling Operations; Radiobiology Studies; Reef and Lagoon Fishes; Pelagic Fishes; Taxonomy and Teratology of Fishes; Invertebrate Embryology; Vertebrate Embryology; Reef and Lagoon Algae; Chemical Effects of Organisms Upon Sea Water; The Insect Population; Marine Invertebrates; Land Animals; Plankton Studies; Counter-Room Activities; Radiochemical Analyses; Soils Chemistry; Low-Level Radiation Studies; Army Engineering Studies; Aerological Data; Bacteriological Investigations; Radiological Safety; Radiological Health; Technical Director's Summary.

Sediment studies at Bikini Atoll part 3. Inventories of some long-lived gamma-emitting radionuclides associated with lagoon surface sediments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noshkin, V.E.

1997-12-01

Surface sediment samples were collected during 1979 from 87 locations in the lagoon at Bikini Atoll. The collections were made to better define the concentrations and distribution of long-lived radionuclides associated with the bottom material and to show what modifications occurred to the composition of the surface sediment from the nuclear testing program conducted by the United States at the Atoll between 1946 and 1958. This is the last of three reports on Bikini sediment studies. In this report, we discuss the concentrations and inventories of the residual long-lived gamma-emitting radionuclides in sediments from the lagoon. The gamma-emitting radionuclides detectedmore » most frequently in sediments collected in 1979, in addition to Americium-241 ({sup 241}Am) (discussed in the second report of this series), included Cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs), Bismuth-207 ({sup 207}Bi), Europium-155 ({sup 155}Eu), and Cobalt-60 ({sup 60}Co). Other man-made, gamma-emitting radionuclides such as Europium-152,154 ({sup 152,154}Eu), Antimony-125 ({sup 125}Sb), and Rhodium-101,102m ({sup 101,102m}Rh) were occasionally measured above detection limits in sediments near test site locations. The mean inventories for {sup 137}Cs, {sup 207}Ei, {sup 155}Eu, and {sup 60}Co in the surface 4 cm of the lagoon sediment to be 1.7, 0.56, 7.76, and 0.74 TBq, respectively. By June 1997, radioactive decay would reduce these values to 1.1, 0.38, 0.62, and 0.07 TBq, respectively. Some additional loss results from a combination of different processes that continuously mobilize and return some amount of the radionuclides to the water column. The water and dissolved constituents are removed from the lagoon through channels and exchange with the surface waters of the north equatorial Pacific Ocean. Highest levels of these radionuclides are found in surface deposits lagoonward of the Bravo Crater. Lowest concentrations and inventories are associated with sediment lagoonward of the eastern reef. The quantities in the 0-4 cm surface layer are estimated to be less than 35% of the total inventory to depth in the sediment column.« less

Uptake of 137Cs by Leafy Vegetables and Grains from Calcareous Soils

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W; Hamilton, T; Conrado, C

2004-04-19

Cesium-137 was deposited on Bikini Island at Bikini Atoll in 1954 as a result of nuclear testing and has been transported and cycled in the ecosystem ever since. Atoll soils are of marine origin and are almost pure CaCO{sub 3} with high concentrations of organic matter in the top 40 cm. Data from previous experiments with mature fruit trees show very high transfer factors (TF's), [Bq g{sup -1} plant/ Bq g{sup -1} soil, both in dry weight] into fruits from atoll calcareous soil. These TF's are much higher than reported for continental, silica-based soils. In this report TF's for 5more » types of leafy vegetable crops and 2 types of grain crops are provided for use in predictive dose assessments and for comparison with other data from other investigators working with other types of soil in the IAEA CRP ''The Classification of Soil Systems on the Basis of Transfer Factors of Radionuclides from Soil to Reference Plants''. Transfer factors for plants grown on calcareous soil are again very high relative to clay-containing soils and range from 23 to 39 for grain crops and 21 to 113 for leafy vegetables. Results from these experiments, in this unique, high pH, high organic content, low potassium (K) soil, provide a boundary condition for models relating soil properties to TF.« less

The Human Volunteer in Military Biomedical Research (Military Medical Ethics. Volume 2, Chapter 19)

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-10-01

was not de- classified until 1975. It applied only to human re- search in the fields of atomic, biological , and/or chemical warfare.11 In 1954 the Army...memo- randum applied to all human research, not only atomic, biological , or chemical testing.11 Even though this memorandum applied only to the Army...first peacetime nuclear weapons tests in the Bikini Atoll, until 1963, when atmospheric test- ing was halted by the Limited Test Ban Treaty, nu

Fallout Deposition in the Marshall Islands from Bikini and Enewetak Nuclear Weapons Tests

PubMed Central

Beck, Harold L.; Bouville, André; Moroz, Brian E.; Simon, Steven L.

2009-01-01

Deposition densities (Bq m-2) of all important dose-contributing radionuclides occurring in nuclear weapons testing fallout from tests conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls (1946-1958) have been estimated on a test-specific basis for all the 31 atolls and separate reef islands of the Marshall Islands. A complete review of various historical and contemporary data, as well as meteorological analysis, was used to make judgments regarding which tests deposited fallout in the Marshall Islands and to estimate fallout deposition density. Our analysis suggested that only 20 of the 66 nuclear tests conducted in or near the Marshall Islands resulted in substantial fallout deposition on any of the 25 inhabited atolls. This analysis was confirmed by the fact that the sum of our estimates of 137Cs deposition from these 20 tests at each atoll is in good agreement with the total 137Cs deposited as estimated from contemporary soil sample analyses. The monitoring data and meteorological analyses were used to quantitatively estimate the deposition density of 63 activation and fission products for each nuclear test, plus the cumulative deposition of 239+240Pu at each atoll. Estimates of the degree of fractionation of fallout from each test at each atoll, as well as of the fallout transit times from the test sites to the atolls were used in this analysis. The estimates of radionuclide deposition density, fractionation, and transit times reported here are the most complete available anywhere and are suitable for estimations of both external and internal dose to representative persons as described in companion papers. PMID:20622548

Fallout deposition in the Marshall Islands from Bikini and Enewetak nuclear weapons tests.

PubMed

Beck, Harold L; Bouville, André; Moroz, Brian E; Simon, Steven L

2010-08-01

Deposition densities (Bq m(-2)) of all important dose-contributing radionuclides occurring in nuclear weapons testing fallout from tests conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls (1946-1958) have been estimated on a test-specific basis for 32 atolls and separate reef islands of the Marshall Islands. A complete review of various historical and contemporary data, as well as meteorological analysis, was used to make judgments regarding which tests deposited fallout in the Marshall Islands and to estimate fallout deposition density. Our analysis suggested that only 20 of the 66 nuclear tests conducted in or near the Marshall Islands resulted in substantial fallout deposition on any of the 23 inhabited atolls. This analysis was confirmed by the fact that the sum of our estimates of 137Cs deposition from these 20 tests at each atoll is in good agreement with the total 137Cs deposited as estimated from contemporary soil sample analyses. The monitoring data and meteorological analyses were used to quantitatively estimate the deposition density of 63 activation and fission products for each nuclear test, plus the cumulative deposition of 239+240Pu at each atoll. Estimates of the degree of fractionation of fallout from each test at each atoll, as well as of the fallout transit times from the test sites to the atolls were used in this analysis. The estimates of radionuclide deposition density, fractionation, and transit times reported here are the most complete available anywhere and are suitable for estimations of both external and internal dose to representative persons as described in companion papers.

Chromosome aberrations in Japanese fishermen exposed to fallout radiation 420-1200 km distant from the nuclear explosion test site at Bikini Atoll: report 60 years after the incident.

PubMed

Tanaka, Kimio; Ohtaki, Megu; Hoshi, Masaharu

2016-08-01

During the period from March to May, 1954, the USA conducted six nuclear weapon tests at the "Bravo" detonation sites at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, Marshall Islands. At that time, the crew of tuna fishing boats and cargo ships that were operating approximately 150-1200 km away from the test sites were exposed to radioactive fallout. The crew of the fishing boats and those on cargo ships except the "5th Fukuryu-maru" did not undergo any health examinations at the time of the incident. In the present study, chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes were examined in detail by the G-banding method in 17 crew members from 8 fishing boats and 2 from one cargo ship, 60 years after the tests. None of the subjects examined had suffered from cancer. The percentages of both stable-type aberrations such as translocation, inversion and deletion, and unstable-type aberrations such as dicentric and centric ring in the study group were significantly higher (1.4- and 2.3-fold, respectively) than those in nine age-matched controls. In the exposed and control groups, the percentages of stable-type aberrations were 3.35 % and 2.45 %, respectively, and the numbers of dicentric and centric ring chromosomes per 100 cells were 0.35 and 0.15, respectively. Small clones were observed in three members of the exposed group. These results suggest that the crews were exposed to slightly higher levels of fallout than had hitherto been assumed.

Mortality of veteran participants in the crossroads nuclear test

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, J.C.; Thaul, S.; Page, W.F.

1997-07-01

Operation CROSSROADS, conducted at Bikini Atoll in 1946, was the first post World War II test of nuclear weapons. Mortality experience of 40,000 military veteran participants in CROSSROADS was compared to that of a similar cohort of nonparticipating veterans. All-cause mortality of the participants was slightly increased over nonparticipants by 5% (p < .001). Smaller increases in participant mortality for all malignancies (1.4%, p = 0.26) or leukemia (2.0%, p = 0.9) were not statistically significant. These results do not support a hypothesis that radiation had increased participant cancer mortality over that of nonparticipants. 8 refs.

Relationship of cutaneous malignant melanoma to individual sunlight-exposure habits.

PubMed

Holman, C D; Armstrong, B K; Heenan, P J

1986-03-01

The relationships of different histologic types of cutaneous malignant melanoma to occupational and recreational sunlight exposure, habits of clothing, sunburn histories, and use of sunscreening agents were examined in a case-control study of 507 patients and 507 matched controls in Western Australia. Variations in relationships according to the primary site of melanoma were also examined. An increased incidence rate of superficial spreading melanoma was associated with low total outdoor exposure in early adulthood and frequent participation in boating and fishing. Superficial spreading melanoma of the trunk was also related to frequency of sunbathing at ages 15-24 years and of exposure of the trunk while working outdoors. In women the rate ratio for all types of melanoma occurring on the trunk was estimated at 13.0 (95% confidence interval, 2.0-83.9) in those who wore a bikini or bathed nude at ages 15-24 years compared with those wearing a conservative one-piece bathing suit. There was little evidence that sunbathing or wearing a bikini within 10 years of case diagnosis were risk factors for melanoma of the trunk. After control of confounding due to constitutional factors, only Hutchinson's melanotic freckle melanoma showed a relationship to severe sunburn. For nodular melanoma, sunburn appeared to be protective. Although many of the results supported the hypothesis that melanomas other than the Hutchinson's melanotic freckle type are related to occasional bursts of recreational sun exposure during a susceptible period in early adult life, little support for the hypothesis was obtained when recreational sun exposure was expressed as a proportion of total outdoor exposure, which had been considered a priori to be an index of intermittent sunlight exposure.

Concentrations of radionuclides in fish collected from Bikini Atoll between 1977 and 1984

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noshkin, V.E.; Wong, K.M.; Eagle, R.J.

1986-07-01

This report summarizes all available data on the concentrations of radionuclides in fish from Bikini Atoll between 1977 and 1984. As found in other global studies, /sup 137/Cs is most highly accumulated in edible flesh of all species of fish, the lowest fractions are found in the bone or liver. The mean concentration of /sup 137/Cs in muscle of reef fish from the southern part of the atoll is comparable to the global fallout concentration measured in market samples of fish collected from Chicago, Illinois, in 1982. /sup 90/Sr is generally associated with non-edible parts of fish, such as bonemore » or viscera. Twenty-five to fifty percent of the total body burden of /sup 60/Co is accumulated in the muscle tissue; the remainder is distributed among the liver, skin, and viscera. The mean concentration of /sup 60/Co in fish has been decreasing at a rate faster than radiological decay alone. Most striking is the range of /sup 207/Bi concentrations among different species of fish collected at the same time and place. Highest concentrations of /sup 207/Bi were consistently detected in the muscle (and other tissues) of goatfish and some of the pelagic lagoon fish. In other reef fish, such as mullet, surgeonfish, and parrotfish, /sup 207/Bi was usually below detection limits by gamma spectrometry. Over 70% of the whole-body activity of /sup 207/Bi in goatfish is associated with the muscle tissue, whereas less than 5% is found in the muscle of mullet and surgeonfish. Neither /sup 239 +240/Pu nor /sup 241/Am is significantly accumulated in the muscle tissue of any species of fish. Apparently, /sup 238/Pu is in a more readily available form for accumulation by fishes than /sup 239 +240/Pu. Based on a daily ingestion rate of 200 q of fish flesh, dose rates to individuals through the fish-food ingestion pathway are well below current Federal guidelines.« less

Measurement of 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratios in soils from the Marshall Islands using ICP-MS.

PubMed

Muramatsu, Y; Hamilton, T; Uchida, S; Tagami, K; Yoshida, S; Robison, W

2001-10-20

Nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands produced significant quantities of regional or tropospheric fallout contamination. Here we report on some preliminary inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements of plutonium isolated from seven composite soil samples collected from Bikini, Enewetak and Rongelap Atolls in the northern Marshall Islands. These data show that 240Pu/239Pu isotopic signatures in surface soils from the Marshall Island vary significantly and could potentially be used to help quantify the range and extent of fallout deposition (and associated impacts) from specific weapons tests. 137Cs and 60Co were also determined on the same set of soil samples for comparative purposes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noshkin, V. E.; Robison, W. L.

Between June 1946 and October 1958, Enewetak and Bikini Atolls were used by the United States as testing grounds for 66 nuclear devices. The combined explosive yield from these tests was 107 Mt (Mt TNT equivalents). This testing produced close-in fallout debris that was contaminated with quantities of radioactive fission and particle activated products, and unspent radioactive nuclear fuel that entered the aquatic environment of the atolls. Today, the sediments in the lagoons are reservoirs for 10's of TBq of the transuranics and some long-lived fission and activation products. The larger amounts of contamination are associated with fine and coarsemore » sediment material adjacent to the locations of the high yield explosions. Radionuclides are also distributed vertically in the sediment column to various depths in all regions of the lagoons. Concentrations greater than fallout background levels are found in filtered water sampled over several decades from all locations and depths in the lagoons. This is a direct indication that the radionuclides are continuously mobilized to solution from the solid phases. Of particular importance is the fact that the long-lived radionuclides are accumulated to different levels by indigenous aquatic plants and organisms that are used as food by resident people. One might anticipate finding continuous high contamination levels in many of the edible marine organisms from the lagoons, since the radionuclides associated with the sediments are not contained and are available to the different organisms in a relatively shallow water environment. This is not the case. We estimate that the radiological dose from consumption of the edible parts of marine foods at Enewetak and Bikini is presently about 0.05% of the total 50-year integral effective dose from all other exposure pathways that include ingestion of terrestrial foods and drinking water, external exposure and inhalation. The total radiological dose from the marine pathway is dominated by the natural radionuclides, {sup 210}Po and {sup 210}Pb. Man-made radionuclides presently contribute less than 0.3% of the dose from these natural radionuclides in the marine food chain.« less

Depilatory laser: a potential causative factor for inguinal hyperhidrosis: report of three cases.

PubMed

Obeid, Grace; Helou, Josiane; Maatouk, Ismael; Moutran, Roy; Tomb, Roland

2013-10-01

Hyperhidrosis has recently been described as a novel adverse effect of laser-assisted hair removal in the axillary area. Inguinal Hyperhidrosis (IH) is a localized and, typically, a primary form of hyperhidrosis affecting the groin area in individuals before age 25. IH has been reported in the literature after traumas and as a dysfunction of the central sympathetic nervous system. To the best of our knowledge, IH has never been reported as secondary to laser-assisted hair removal. Herein, we report three cases of IH following depilatory laser of the inguinal zone. Three female patients with no relevant medical history presented with the complaint of excessive sweating in the inguinal area after undergoing full bikini depilatory laser sessions. Although never described before, depilatory laser seems to trigger the occurrence of hyperhidrosis in the inguinal zone.

ACUTE AND CHRONIC INTAKES OF FALLOUT RADIONUCLIDES BY MARSHALLESE FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING AT BIKINI AND ENEWETAK AND RELATED INTERNAL RADIATION DOSES

PubMed Central

Simon, Steven L.; Bouville, André; Melo, Dunstana; Beck, Harold L.; Weinstock, Robert M.

2014-01-01

Annual internal radiation doses resulting from both acute and chronic intakes of all important dose-contributing radionuclides occurring in fallout from nuclear weapons testing at Bikini and Enewetak from 1946 through 1958 have been estimated for the residents living on all atolls and separate reef islands of the Marshall Islands. Internal radiation absorbed doses to the tissues most at risk to cancer induction (red bone marrow, thyroid, stomach, and colon) have been estimated for representative persons of all population communities for all birth years from 1929 through 1968, and for all years of exposure from 1948 through 1970. The acute intake estimates rely on a model using, as its basis, historical urine bioassay data, for members of the Rongelap Island and Ailinginae communities as well as for Rongerik residents. The model also utilizes fallout times of arrival and radionuclide deposition densities estimated for all tests and all atolls. Acute intakes of 63 radionuclides were estimated for the populations of the 20 inhabited atolls and for the communities that were relocated during the testing years for reasons of safety and decontamination. The model used for chronic intake estimates is based on reported whole-body, urine, and blood counting data for residents of Utrik and Rongelap. Dose conversion coefficients relating intake to organ absorbed dose were developed using internationally accepted models but specifically tailored for intakes of particulate fallout by consideration of literature-based evidence to choose the most appropriate alimentary tract absorption fraction (f1) values. Dose estimates were much higher for the thyroid gland than for red marrow, stomach wall, or colon. The highest thyroid doses to adults were about 7,600 mGy for the people exposed on Rongelap; thyroid doses to adults were much lower, by a factor of 100 or more, for the people exposed on the populated atolls of Kwajalein and Majuro. The estimates of radionuclide intake and internal radiation dose to the Marshallese that are presented in this paper are the most complete available anywhere and were used to make projections of lifetime cancer risks to the exposed populations, which are presented in a companion paper in this volume. PMID:20622550

An investigation into the prevalence of thyroid disease on Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands.

PubMed

Takahashi, T; Trott, K R; Fujimori, K; Simon, S L; Ohtomo, H; Nakashima, N; Takaya, K; Kimura, N; Satomi, S; Schoemaker, M J

1997-07-01

The prevalence of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer was studied in the indigenous population residing on Ebeye Island, Kwajalein Atoll, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This island, centrally located in the nation, is home to about 25% of the nation's population, many who have migrated there from other atolls. The objective of the study was to obtain thyroid disease rate statistics on as much of the population as possible that was alive during the years of nuclear testing and to test the hypothesis that described a linearly decreasing prevalence of palpable nodules with increasing distance from the Bikini test site. 1,322 Marshallese born before 1965 were given a thyroid examination using neck palpation, fine needle aspiration biopsy, and high resolution ultrasound imaging. Approximately 40% of the total population living on this island who are at risk from exposure to radioactive fallout during the years 1946-1958 were screened. Of that group, 815 were alive at the time of the BRAVO test on 1 March 1954. Two hundred sixty-six people with thyroid nodules were found (32.6%): 132 were palpable nodules (16.2%), and 134 were nodules that could be diagnosed with ultrasound only (15.7%). Prevalence of palpable nodules was particularly high in men and women older than 60 y, in men who were 6 to 15 y of age at the time of the BRAVO test, and in women 1 to 10 y of age at the time of the BRAVO test. In 22 people, the clinical diagnosis was most likely cancer though histopathological evidence was only available from 11 operated cases. Of the 11 operated cases, 10 were cancer. Cancer prevalence was particularly high in those women born between 1944 and 1953 (7/220 = 3.2%), i.e., who were children during the early years of nuclear testing. The Ebeye data showed a marginally significant correlation between palpable nodule prevalence among women and distance to Bikini (r = -0.44, p = 0.06). This report summarizes the clinical findings of the thyroid examinations, the age distributions for nodular disease and cancer, and examines the relationship between prevalence of nodules and present day levels of 137Cs in the environment of each atoll.

Acute and chronic intakes of fallout radionuclides by Marshallese from nuclear weapons testing at Bikini and Enewetak and related internal radiation doses.

PubMed

Simon, Steven L; Bouville, André; Melo, Dunstana; Beck, Harold L; Weinstock, Robert M

2010-08-01

Annual internal radiation doses resulting from both acute and chronic intakes of all important dose-contributing radionuclides occurring in fallout from nuclear weapons testing at Bikini and Enewetak from 1946 through 1958 have been estimated for the residents living on all atolls and separate reef islands of the Marshall Islands. Internal radiation absorbed doses to the tissues most at risk to cancer induction (red bone marrow, thyroid, stomach, and colon) have been estimated for representative persons of all population communities for all birth years from 1929 through 1968, and for all years of exposure from 1948 through 1970. The acute intake estimates rely on a model using, as its basis, historical urine bioassay data, for members of the Rongelap Island and Ailinginae communities as well as for Rongerik residents. The model also utilizes fallout times of arrival and radionuclide deposition densities estimated for all tests and all atolls. Acute intakes of 63 radionuclides were estimated for the populations of the 20 inhabited atolls and for the communities that were relocated during the testing years for reasons of safety and decontamination. The model used for chronic intake estimates is based on reported whole-body, urine, and blood counting data for residents of Utrik and Rongelap. Dose conversion coefficients relating intake to organ absorbed dose were developed using internationally accepted models but specifically tailored for intakes of particulate fallout by consideration of literature-based evidence to choose the most appropriate alimentary tract absorption fraction (f1) values. Dose estimates were much higher for the thyroid gland than for red marrow, stomach wall, or colon. The highest thyroid doses to adults were about 7,600 mGy for the people exposed on Rongelap; thyroid doses to adults were much lower, by a factor of 100 or more, for the people exposed on the populated atolls of Kwajalein and Majuro. The estimates of radionuclide intake and internal radiation dose to the Marshallese that are presented in this paper are the most complete available anywhere and were used to make projections of lifetime cancer risks to the exposed populations, which are presented in a companion paper in this volume.

Are inferences from stereotyped role names to characters' gender made elaboratively?

PubMed

Garnham, Alan; Oakhill, Jane; Reynolds, David

2002-04-01

Two experiments provided evidence that gender stereotype inferences from role names--for example, that a surgeon is (probably) male--are made in a forward, elaborative, direction. We used sentences in which a person's gender was never made explicit, but was implied in two different ways. The two ways were by the use of a role name, and by mentioning an item of clothing (e.g., a bikini) or a biological characteristic (e.g., giving birth) that is typically associated with females or males. The two pieces of information (role name and clothing/biological characteristic) were presented in different orders in the two experiments. In both cases a mismatch between the associated genders slowed reading, showing that gender information has been activated. It is argued that if an inference about gender is made on the basis of the second piece of information, hence slowing comprehension, it is unlikely that the inference about gender based on the first piece of information was not made immediately.

Base surge in recent volcanic eruptions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, J.G.

1967-01-01

A base surge, first identified at the Bikini thermonuclear undersea explosion, is a ring-shaped basal cloud that sweeps outward as a density flow from the base of a vertical explosion column. Base surges are also common in shallow underground test explosions and are formed by expanding gases which first vent vertically and then with continued expansion rush over the crater lip (represented by a large solitary wave in an underwater explosion), tear ejecta from it, and feed a gas-charged density flow, which is the surge cloud. This horizontally moving cloud commonly has an initial velocity of more than 50 meters per second and can carry clastic material many kilometers. Base surges are a common feature of many recent shallow, submarine and phreatic volcanic eruptions. They transport ash, mud, lapilli, and blocks with great velocity and commonly sandblast and knock down trees and houses, coat the blast side with mud, and deposit ejecta at distances beyond the limits of throw-out trajectories. Close to the eruption center, the base surge can erode radial channels and deposit material with dune-type bedding. ?? 1967 Stabilimento Tipografico Francesco Giannini & Figli.

Women's Health Research: Current State of the Art

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

It is remarkable that only a few years ago, discussions about women's health research often had to be prefaced with the expanded vision of what that concept should actually be in totality as the traditional approach to the health of women had focused on the reproductive system or “bikini medicine,” as Dr Marianne Legato, an internationally recognized specialist in women's health, and others have characterized it. Today, there is an almost universal appreciation of the broader perception of women's health and that research on women includes not just clinical trials but also basic investigation from the molecular level of genes to the many aspects of behavioral and societal influences. This evolution over the past 25 years of what should and does constitute women's health research has been important in influencing the design of biomedical and behavioral research studies and in elucidating factors now implicit in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to both males and females.1 And examples of advances from research providing the foundation for public health policies and legislative initiatives only strengthen the understanding of the value of these efforts.2 PMID:24416687

Review of medical findings in a Marshallese population twenty-six years after accidental exposure to radioactive fallout

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Conard, R.A.; Paglia, D.E.; Larsen, P.R.

1980-01-01

In March 1954, radioactive debris from a thermonuclear weapon test at Bikini Atoll deviated from predicted trajectories and contaminated several atolls in the northern Marshall Islands. As a result, 239 native inhabitants of these islands along with 28 American servicemen and 23 Japanese fishermen received variably severe exposures to diverse ionizing radiations. Fallout material consisted largely of mixed fission products with small amounts of neutron-induced radionuclides and minimal amounts of fissionable elements, producing a complex spectrum of electromagnetic and particulate radiation. Individuals were exposed to deeply penetrating, whole-body gamma irradiation, to internal radiation emitters assimilated either by inhalation or bymore » ingestion of contaminated water and food, and to direct radiation from material accumulating on body surfaces. That accident initiated a cascade of events, medical, social and political, which continue in varying forms to this day. Most of these have been discussed in the open medical literature and in periodic reports issued by the medical team headquartered at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This report attempts to summarize some of the principal findings of medical significnce that have been observed during the subsequent 26 years with particular emphasis on the last six years.« less

Brain activation upon ideal-body media exposure and peer feedback in late adolescent girls.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Mara; Veldhuis, Jolanda; Braams, Barbara R; Peters, Sabine; Konijn, Elly A; Crone, Eveline A

2017-08-01

Media's prevailing thin-body ideal plays a vital role in adolescent girls' body image development, but the co-occurring impact of peer feedback is understudied. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test media imagery and peer feedback combinations on neural activity related to thin-body ideals. Twenty-four healthy female late adolescents rated precategorized body sizes of bikini models (too thin or normal), directly followed by ostensible peer feedback (too thin or normal). Consistent with prior studies on social feedback processing, results showed increased brain activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral insula in incongruent situations: when participants rated media models' body size as normal while peer feedback indicated the models as too thin (or vice versa). This effect was stronger for girls with lower self-esteem. A subsequent behavioral study (N = 34 female late adolescents, separate sample) demonstrated that participants changed behavior in the direction of the peer feedback: precategorized normal sized models were rated as too thin more often after receiving too thin peer feedback. This suggests that the neural responses upon peer feedback may influence subsequent choice. Our results show that media-by-peer interactions have pronounced effects on girls' body ideals.

Northern Marshall Islands radiological survey: sampling and analysis summary

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W.L.; Conrado, C.L.; Eagle, R.J.

1981-07-23

A radiological survey was conducted in the Northern Marshall Islands to document reamining external gamma exposures from nuclear tests conducted at Enewetak and Bikini Atolls. An additional program was later included to obtain terrestrial and marine samples for radiological dose assessment for current or potential atoll inhabitants. This report is the first of a series summarizing the results from the terrestrial and marine surveys. The sample collection and processing procedures and the general survey methodology are discussed; a summary of the collected samples and radionuclide analyses is presented. Over 5400 samples were collected from the 12 atolls and 2 islandsmore » and prepared for analysis including 3093 soil, 961 vegetation, 153 animal, 965 fish composite samples (average of 30 fish per sample), 101 clam, 50 lagoon water, 15 cistern water, 17 groundwater, and 85 lagoon sediment samples. A complete breakdown by sample type, atoll, and island is given here. The total number of analyses by radionuclide are 8840 for /sup 241/Am, 6569 for /sup 137/Cs, 4535 for /sup 239 +240/Pu, 4431 for /sup 90/Sr, 1146 for /sup 238/Pu, 269 for /sup 241/Pu, and 114 each for /sup 239/Pu and /sup 240/Pu. A complete breakdown by sample category, atoll or island, and radionuclide is also included.« less

Thyroid nodules, thyroid function and dietary iodine in the Marshall islands.

PubMed

Takahashi, T; Fujimori, K; Simon, S L; Bechtner, G; Edwards, R; Trott, K R

1999-08-01

Thyroid nodules have been found to be common in the population of the Marshall Islands. This has been attributed to potential exposure of radioiodines from the nuclear weapons tests on Bikini and Eniwetok between 1946 and 1958. In order to get a full picture of thyroid pathology in the Marshallese population potentially exposed to radioactive fallout we performed a large thyroid screening programme using palpation, high resolution ultrasound and fine needle biopsies of palpable nodules. In addition, various parameters of thyroid function (free T3, free T4, thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH]) and anti-thyroid antibodies were examined in large proportions of the total population at risk. Since dietary iodine deficiency is an established risk factor for thyroid nodules, iodine concentration in urine samples of 362 adults and 119 children was measured as well as the iodine content of selected staple food products. The expected high prevalence of thyroid nodules was confirmed. There was no indication of an increased rate of impaired thyroid function in the Marshallese population. A moderate degree of iodine deficiency was found which may be responsible for some of the increased prevalence of thyroid nodules in the Marshallese population. Studies on the relationship between exposure to radioiodines and thyroid nodules need to take dietary iodine deficiency into account in the interpretation of findings.

Biogeography of marine podocopid ostracodes in Micronesia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weissleader, L.S.; Gilinsky, N.L.; Ross, R.M.; Cronin, T. M.

1989-01-01

Bottom lagoonal sediment samples from 12 islands and atolls yielded >70 species representing >32 ostracode genera. All or most samples from a particular lagoon generally form distinct subgroups (Jaccard =0.45-0.50). At lower levels, 5 groups delineate faunal regions within Micronesia: the Gilbert Islands (Onotoa) in the SE part of the region, the N Marshall Islands (Enewetak, Rongelap, Bikini), the SE Marshall Islands (Kwajalein, Jaluit, Majuro, Arno), the Marianas and Caroline Islands (Guam, Truk, Pohnpei) and Pingelap. Pingelap, Kwajalein and Onotoa have the highest species richness (S=32-42) and Shannon-Wiener diversity values (H(S)=2.62-3.02) in the study area. Enewetak, Jaluit, Majuro and Arno show lower values (S=23-27, H(S)=2.29-2.70). Of the ostracode species living in Micronesia, 64.3% have Indo-West Pacific affinities, 7.1% are circumtropical, 5.7% have East Pacific-Caribbean affinities, 11.4% are endemic to Micronesia, and 11.4% have unknown affinities. If the SE Asian region is a primary species-source, results show that each Micronesian lagoon is equally likely to be colonized by dispersal from the source region, despite differences in distance from a hypothetical source. However, each lagoon has a distinct ostracode assemblage, probably the result of unique history of random colonization events, local extinctions and environmental disturbances. -from Authors

{sup 237}Np in Hemp-palm leaves of Bontenchiku for fishing gear used by the Fifth Fukuryu-Maru: 40 year after {open_quotes}Bravo{close_quotes}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamamoto, Masayoshi; Komura, Kazuhisa; Ueno, Kaoru

1996-05-01

The alpha radioactive components in the Hemp-palm leaves of Bontenchiku were determined with emphasis on the measurement of low-level {sup 237}Np by alpha-ray spectrometry after chemical separation. Bontenchiku is a kind of fishing gear for long-line fishing used by the Fifth Fukuryu-Maru (Lucky Dragon). This gear was exposed to fallout from the second thermonuclear test explosion (Bravo) at Bikini Atoll in March 1954. The {sup 237}Np content in the Bontenchiku sample was determined to be 11.5 {plus_minus}0.8 mBq g{sup {minus}1} with an activity ratio of {sup 237}Np: {sup 239,240}Pu and an atom ratio of {sup 237}Np: {sup 239}Pu estimated tomore » be (2.2 {plus_minus}0.2) x 10{sup {minus}3} and 0.42 {plus_minus}0.04, respectively. The data showed the existence of a chain reaction of {sup 238}U and its ratio to be {sup 237}Np: {sup 239}Pu, as well as the presence of {sup 237}U at the time of fallout from Bravo event in March 1954. 12 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.« less

Optimum interpolation analysis of basin-scale ¹³⁷Cs transport in surface seawater in the North Pacific Ocean.

PubMed

Inomata, Y; Aoyama, M; Tsumune, D; Motoi, T; Nakano, H

2012-12-01

¹³⁷Cs is one of the conservative tracers applied to the study of oceanic circulation processes on decadal time scales. To investigate the spatial distribution and the temporal variation of ¹³⁷Cs concentrations in surface seawater in the North Pacific Ocean after 1957, a technique for optimum interpolation (OI) was applied to understand the behaviour of ¹³⁷Cs that revealed the basin-scale circulation of Cs ¹³⁷Cs in surface seawater in the North Pacific Ocean: ¹³⁷Cs deposited in the western North Pacific Ocean from global fallout (late 1950s and early 1960s) and from local fallout (transported from the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls during the late 1950s) was further transported eastward with the Kuroshio and North Pacific Currents within several years of deposition and was accumulated in the eastern North Pacific Ocean until 1967. Subsequently, ¹³⁷Cs concentrations in the eastern North Pacific Ocean decreased due to southward transport. Less radioactively contaminated seawater was also transported northward, upstream of the North Equatorial Current in the western North Pacific Ocean in the 1970s, indicating seawater re-circulation in the North Pacific Gyre.

Prospective Clinical Study of 551 Cases of Liposuction and Abdominoplasty Performed Individually and in Combination

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background: Despite the popularity of these procedures, there are limited published prospective studies evaluating liposuction and abdominoplasty. Lipoabdominoplasty is a subject of recent attention. Several investigators have recommended alternative techniques that preserve the Scarpa fascia in an effort to reduce complications, particularly the risk of seromas. Methods: Over a 5-year period, 551 consecutive patients were treated with ultrasonic liposuction alone (n = 384), liposuction/abdominoplasty (n = 150), or abdominoplasty alone (n = 17). In lipoabdominoplasties, the abdomen and flanks were first treated with liposuction. A traditional flap dissection was used for all abdominoplasties. Scalpel dissection was used rather than electrodissection. A supine “jackknife” position was used in surgery to provide maximum hip flexion, allowing a secure deep fascial repair. Results: The complication rate after liposuction was 4.2% vs 50% for patients treated with an abdominoplasty. Approximately half of the abdominoplasty complications were minor scar deformities, including widened umbilical scars (17.3%) that were revised. The seroma rate after abdominoplasties was 5.4%; there were no seromas after liposuction alone. Conclusions: Lipoabdominoplasty may be performed safely, so that patients may benefit from both modalities. The seroma rate is reduced by avoiding electrodissection, making Scarpa fascia preservation a moot point. A deep fascial repair keeps the abdominoplasty scar within the bikini line. Deep venous thrombosis and other complications may be minimized with precautions that do not include anticoagulation. PMID:25289226

Transuranics in bone of deceased former residents of Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands.

PubMed

Franke, B; Schupfner, R; Schüttelkopf, H; Spennemann, D H

1995-11-01

Rongelap Atoll received intensive fallout from the 1 March 1954 Bravo thermonuclear test 105 miles upwind at Bikini. Fearful of their continued exposure to radiation, the residents of Rongelap Atoll went into voluntary exile in 1985. Transuranic soil concentrations on Rongelap Island are about 2-3 orders of magnitude greater than the average for the Northern hemisphere; the three dominating transuranics are 239,240Pu and 241Am. Only conflicting information has been available about the extent of transuranic uptake by the Rongelap community. As part of the Rongelap Resettlement Project, the community endorsed the exhumation of bones of deceased former atoll residents to provide an independent estimate of plutonium intake. This approach has the advantage of reducing the uncertainties associated with pathway modeling and the interpretation of urine data. Six graves (4 adults, 2 children) were selected for exhumation. Femora and tibiae were selected as well as humeri from the children's graves. The rest of the remains was left undisturbed. The results of the analysis of 239,240Pu and 241Am are presented. Assuming that the data can be considered as representative for the Rongelap population as a whole, the contamination with transuranics on Rongelap Atoll appears to result in radiation exposures in the order of 1% of the compliance limit of 100 mrem (1 mSv) effective dose equivalent per year.

National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series. Volume 10, Nickel-63

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carboneau, M.L.; Adams, J.P.

1995-02-01

This report outlines the basic radiological, chemical, and physical characteristics of nickel-63 ({sup 63}Ni) and examines how these characteristics affect the behavior of {sup 63}Ni in various environmental media, such as soils, groundwater, plants, animals, the atmosphere, and the human body. Discussions also include methods of {sup 63}Ni production, waste types, and waste forms that contain {sup 63}Ni. The primary source of {sup 63}Ni in the environment has been low-level radioactive waste material generated as a result of neutron activation of stable {sup 62}Ni that is present in the structural components of nuclear reactor vessels. {sup 63}Ni enters the environmentmore » from the dismantling activities associated with nuclear reactor decommissioning. However, small amounts of {sup 63}Ni have been detected in the environment following the testing of thermonuclear weapons in the South Pacific. Concentrations as high as 2.7 Bq{sup a} per gram of sample (or equivalently 0.0022 parts per billion) were observed on Bikini Atoll (May 1954). {sup 63}Ni was not created as a fission product species (e.g., from {sup 235}U or {sup 239}Pu fissions), but instead was produced as a result of neutron capture in {sup 63}Ni, a common nickel isotope present in the stainless steel components of nuclear weapons (e.g., stainless-304 contains {approximately}9% total Ni or {approximately}0.3% {sup 63}Ni).« less

Neural correlates of viewing photographs of one's own body and another woman's body in anorexia and bulimia nervosa: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Vocks, Silja; Busch, Martin; Grönemeyer, Dietrich; Schulte, Dietmar; Herpertz, Stephan; Suchan, Boris

2010-05-01

In spite of many similarities in the psychopathology of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), the 2 groups seem to differ in terms of body image disturbances. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare neuronal correlates of viewing photographs of one's own body and another woman's body in patients with these forms of eating disorders as well as controls. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging while women with AN (n = 13), BN (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 27) viewed 16 standardized pictures of their own body and another woman's body, taken while the participants were wearing a bikini. When viewing their own body, participants with AN and BN showed reduced activity in the inferior parietal lobule compared with healthy women. In response to looking at another woman's body, participants with AN had higher amygdala activity than did those in the BN and control groups. The generalizability of the results is limited by the small sample size. Our data suggest decreased attentional processes in AN and BN toward one's own body, possibly reflecting body-related avoidance behaviour. Enhanced limbic activity elicited by looking at another woman's body in participants with AN might be a neural correlate of stronger emotional activation and enhanced vigilance, possibly resulting from social comparison processes. Our study reveals hints about body image-associated alterations in brain activity, which seem to be more pronounced among women with AN than among those with BN.

Nuclear energy in postwar Japan and anti-nuclear movements in the 1950s.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Masakatsu

2009-01-01

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 revealed the most destructive power to-date of man-made weapons. Their impact was so great that Japanese scientists thought that a bigger disaster could be prevented only if war was abolished. Thus they welcomed the international control of atomic energy. It was, however, only after the occupation that the Japanese general public began to learn about the horror of these atomic disasters due to the censorship imposed by the occupational forces. The hydrogen bomb test by the US in the Bikini atoll on March 1, 1954 renewed fears of nuclear weapons. The crew of a Japanese fishing vessel, the "Daigo Fukuryu Maru" (Lucky Dragon No. 5) suffered from exposure to radiation from the test. Even after the incident the US did not stop nuclear tests which continued to radioactively contaminate fish and rains in Japan. As a result, the petition movement for the ban of nuclear trials suddenly spread all over the country. By the summer of 1955 the number of the signatures grew to more than one third of Japan's population at the time. Under the strong influence of anti-nuclear Japanese public opinion the Science Council of Japan announced the so-called three principles of atomic energy: "openness," "democracy," and "independence" to ensure atomic energy was used for peaceful uses only. These principles were included in the Atomic Energy Basic Law established in December 1955. With this law, military uses of nuclear energy were strictly forbidden.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fallon, S J; Guilderson, T P

To explore the seasonal to decadal variability in surface water masses that contribute to the Indonesian Throughflow we have generated a 115-year bi-monthly coral-based radiocarbon time-series from a coral in the Makassar Straits. In the pre-bomb (pre-1955) era from 1890 to 1954, the radiocarbon time series occasionally displays a small seasonal signal (10-15{per_thousand}). After 1954 the radiocarbon record increases rapidly, in response to the increased atmospheric {sup 14}C content caused by nuclear weapons testing. From 1957 to 1986 the record displays clear seasonal variability from 15 to 60{per_thousand} and the post-bomb peak (163 per mil) occurred in 1974. The seasonalmore » cycle of radiocarbon can be attributed to variations of surface waters passing through South Makassar Strait. Southern Makassar is under the influence of the Northwest Monsoon, which is responsible for the high Austral summer radiocarbon (North Pacific waters) and the Southeast Monsoon that flushes back a mixture of low (South Pacific and upwelling altered) radiocarbon water from the Banda Sea. The coral record also shows a significant {sup 14}C peak in 1955 due to bomb {sup 14}C water advected into this region in the form of CaCO{sub 3} particles (this implies that the particles were advected intact and then become entrapped in the coral skeleton--is this what we really mean? Wouldn't even fine particles settle out over the inferred transit time from Bikini to MAK?) or water particles with dissolved labeled CO{sub 2} produced during fallout from the Castle tests in 1954.« less

["Epistemic Negotiations" and the Pluralism of the Radiation Protection Regime: The Determination of Radiation Protection Standards for the General Population in the Early Years After World War II].

PubMed

Higuchi, Toshihiro

2015-10-01

Radiation protection standards for the general population have constituted one of the most controversial subjects in the history of atomic energy uses. This paper reexamines the process in which the first such standards evolved in the early postwar period. While the existing literature has emphasized a "collusion" between the standard-setters and users, the paper seeks to examine the horizontal relationship among the standard-setters. It first examines a series of expert consultations between the United States and the United Kingdom. Representing a different configuration of power and interest, the two failed to agree on the assessment of genetic damage and cancer induction whose occurrence might have no threshold and therefore be dependent on the population size. This stalemate prevented the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), established in 1950, from formulating separate guidelines for the general public. Situations radically changed when the Bikini incident in 1954 led to the creation of more scientific panels. One such panel under the U.S. Academy of Sciences enabled the geneticists to bridge their internal divide, unanimously naming 100 mSv as the genetically permissible dose for the general population. Not to be outdone, ICRP publicized its own guidelines for the same purpose. The case examined in this paper shows that the standard-setting process is best understood as a series of "epistemic negotiations" among and within the standard-setters, whose agendas were determined from the outset but whose outcomes were not.

137Cs exposure in the Marshallese populations: an assessment based on whole-body counting measurements (1989-1994).

PubMed

Sun, L C; Clinton, J H; Kaplan, E; Meinhold, C B

1997-07-01

The Marshall Islands were the site of numerous tests of nuclear weapons by the United States. From 1946 to 1958, nuclear devices were detonated at Enewetak and Bikini Atolls. Following the inadvertent contamination of the northern islands downwind of the 1954 Bravo Test, Brookhaven National Laboratory became involved in the medical care and the radiological safety of the affected populations. One important technique employed in assessing the internally deposited radionuclides is whole-body counting. To estimate current and future exposures to 137Cs, data from 1989 to 1994 were analyzed and are reported in this paper. During this period, 3,618 measurements were made for the Marshallese. The cesium body contents were assumed to result from a series of chronic intakes. Also, it was assumed that cesium activity in the body reaches a plateau that is maintained over 365 d. We estimated the annual effective dose rate for each population, derived from the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The average 137Cs uptake measured by the whole-body counting method varies from one population to another; it was consistent with measurements of external exposure rate. The analysis, though based on limited data, indicates that there is no statistical support for a seasonal effect on 137Cs uptake. The critical population group for cesium uptake is adult males. Within the 5-y monitoring period, all internal exposures to 137Cs were less than 0.2 mSv y(-1). Similarly, a persistent average cesium effective dose rate of 2 microSv y(-1) was determined for Majuro residents.

Ground-water resources of the Laura area, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hamlin, S.N.; Anthony, S.S.

1987-01-01

The water system that supplies the heavily populated Dalap-Uliga-Darrit (DUD) area of Majuro atoll, Marshall Island, relies almost entirely upon airstrip catchment of rain water. Droughts cause severe water supply problems and water rationing is required, even during periods of normal rainfall. The Laura area contains a substantial lens of fresh groundwater that could be developed for export to the DUD area 30 mi to the east. Study of the groundwater resource at Laura involved a survey of existing wells, installation of monitoring wells and test holes, compilation of continuous records of rainfall and water level fluctuations, and collection of water quality data. Test hole data permitted the definition of three geohydrologic units which correlate well with similar units in Bikini and Enewetak atolls. The units consist of two layers of unconsolidated reef and lagoon sediments resting on a dense, highly permeable limestone. The potable water zone, or freshwater nucleus, of the lens is contained mostly within the unconsolidated layers, which are much less permeable than the basal limestone. Recharge to the Laura freshwater lens is estimated to be 1.8 mil gal/day, based on an average annual rainfall of 140 in. Sustainable yield is estimated to be about 400,000 gal/day. Shallow skimming wells or infiltration galleries similar to those used on Kwajalein atoll would be appropriate to develop the freshwater lens. The impact of development on the lens can be determined by monitoring the salinity in developed water and in a network of monitor wells. (Author 's abstract)

Distribution and Ratios of 137Cs and K in Control and K-treated Coconut Trees at Bikini Island where Nuclear Test Fallout Occurred: Effects and Implications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W L; Brown, P H; Stone, E L

Coconut trees growing on atolls of the Bikini Islands are on the margin of K deficiency because the concentration of exchangeable K in coral soil is very low ranging from only 20 to 80 mg kg{sup -1}. When provided with additional K, coconut trees absorb large quantities of K and this uptake of K significantly alters the patterns of distribution of {sup 137}Cs within the plant. Following a single K fertilization event, mean total K in trunks of K-treated trees is 5.6 times greater than in trunks of control trees. In contrast, {sup 137}Cs concentration in trunks of K-treated andmore » control trees is statistically the same while {sup 137}Cs is significantly lower in edible fruits of K treated trees. Within one year after fertilization (one rainy season), K concentration in soil is back to naturally, low concentrations, however, the tissue concentrations of K in treated trees stays very high internally in the trees for years while {sup 137}Cs concentration in treated trees remains very low in all tree compartments except for the trunk. Potassium fertilization did not change soil Cs availability. Mass balance calculations suggest that the fertilization event increased above ground plant K content by at least a factor of 5 or 2.2 kg. Potassium concentrations and content were higher in all organs of K fertilized trees with the greatest increases seen in organs that receive a portion of tissue K through xylem transport (trunk, fronds and fruit husks) and lowest in organs supplied predominantly with K via the phloem (palm heart, spathe, coco meat and fluid). {sup 137}Cesium concentrations and contents were dramatically lower in all organs of K treated trees with greatest proportional reductions observed in organs supplied predominantly with K via the phloem (palm heart, spathe, coco meat and fluid). All trees remobilize both K and {sup 137}Cs from fronds as they proceed toward senescence. In control trees the reduction in concentration of K and {sup 137}Cs in fronds as they age is logarithmic but K remobilization is linear in K-treated trees where K concentration is high. As a result of K treatment the {sup 137}Cs concentration in K-treated fronds is extremely low and constant with frond age. Fronds of K treated trees contain a greater amount of K than control tree fronds. As they fall to the ground and decay they provide a small continuing pool of K that is about 3% of the natural K in soil under the tree canopy. Results of K and {sup 137}Cs concentration and distribution in control and K-treated coconut trees suggest that the application of K reduces {sup 137}Cs uptake both in the short term immediately following K fertilization and in the long term, after soil K levels have returned to normal but while plant K stores remain high. These results suggests that high internal K concentration and not high soil K is primarily responsible for long-term reduction of {sup 137}Cs in edible fruits, and plays a significant role in limiting further uptake of {sup 137}Cs by roots, and affects allocation of {sup 137}Cs to edible fruits for years. Coconut trees are capable of luxury K accumulation when provided with excess K and in this example the additional K can effectively provide the K requirements of the plant for in excess of 10 years. The reduction of {sup 137}Cs uptake lasts for at least 10 y after K is last applied and greatly reduces the estimated radiation dose to people consuming local tree foods. Effectiveness and duration of K treatment provides important assurances that reduction in {sup 137}Cs is long term and the radiation dose from consuming local plant foods will remain low.« less

Distribution and ratios of 137Cs and K in control and K-treated coconut trees at Bikini Island where nuclear test fallout occurred: effects and implications.

PubMed

Robison, William L; Brown, Patrick H; Stone, Earl L; Hamilton, Terry F; Conrado, Cynthia L; Kehl, Steven

2009-01-01

Coconut trees growing on atolls of the Bikini Islands are on the margin of K deficiency because the concentration of exchangeable K in coral soil is very low, ranging from only 20 to 80mgkg(-1). When provided with additional K, coconut trees absorb large quantities of K and this uptake of K significantly alters the patterns of distribution of 137Cs within the plant. Following a single K fertilization event, mean total K in trunks of K-treated trees is 5.6 times greater than in trunks of control trees. In contrast, 137Cs concentration in trunks of K-treated and control trees is statistically the same while 137Cs is significantly lower in edible fruits of K-treated trees. Within one year after fertilization (one rainy season), K concentration in soil is back to naturally low concentrations. However, the tissue concentrations of K in treated trees stays very high internally in the trees for years while 137Cs concentration in treated trees remains very low in all tree compartments except for the trunk. Potassium fertilization did not change soil Cs availability. Mass balance calculations suggest that the fertilization event increased above ground plant K content by at least a factor of 5 (2.2kg). Potassium concentrations and content were higher in all organs of K-fertilized trees with the greatest increases seen in organs that receive a portion of tissue K through xylem transport (trunk, fronds and fruit husks) and lowest in organs supplied predominantly with K via the phloem (palm heart, spathe, coco meat and fluid). The 137Cesium concentrations and contents were dramatically lower in all organs of K-treated trees with greatest proportional reductions observed in organs supplied predominantly with K via the phloem (palm heart, spathe, coco meat and fluid). All trees remobilize both K and 137Cs from fronds as they proceed toward senescence. In control trees the reduction in concentration of K and 137Cs in fronds as they age is logarithmic, but K remobilization is linear in K-treated trees where K concentration is high. As a result of K treatment the 137Cs concentration in K-treated fronds is extremely low and constant with frond age. Fronds of K-treated trees contain a greater amount of K than control tree fronds. As they fall to the ground and decay they provide a small continuing pool of K that is about 3% of the natural K in soil under the tree canopy. Results of K and 137Cs concentration and distribution in control and K-treated coconut trees suggest that the application of K reduces 137Cs uptake both in the short term immediately following K fertilization and in the long term, after soil K levels have returned to normal but while plant K stores remain high. These results suggest that high internal K concentration and not high soil K is primarily responsible for long-term reduction of 137Cs in edible fruits, play a significant role in limiting further uptake of 137Cs by roots, and affects allocation of 137Cs to edible fruits for years. Coconut trees are capable of luxury K accumulation when provided with excess K and in this example the additional K can effectively provide the K requirements of the plant for in excess of 10y. The reduction of 137Cs uptake lasts for at least 10y after K is last applied and greatly reduces the estimated radiation dose to people consuming local tree foods. Effectiveness and duration of K treatment provide important assurances that reduction in 137Cs is long term and the radiation dose from consuming local plant foods will remain low.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W L; Hamilton, T F; Bogen, K

Inter-plant concentration ratios (IPCR), [Bq g{sup -1} {sup 137}Cs in coral atoll tree food-crops/Bq g{sup -1} {sup 137}Cs in leaves of native plant species whose roots share a common soil volume], can replace transfer factors (TF) to predict {sup 137}Cs concentration in tree food-crops in a contaminated area with an aged source term. The IPCR strategy has significant benefits relative to TF strategy for such purposes in the atoll ecosystem. IPCR strategy applied to specific assessments takes advantage of the fact tree roots naturally integrate 137Cs over large volumes of soil. Root absorption of {sup 137}Cs replaces large-scale, expensive soilmore » sampling schemes to reduce variability in {sup 137}Cs concentration due to inhomogeneous radionuclide distribution. IPCR [drinking-coconut meat (DCM)/Scaevola (SCA) and Tournefortia (TOU) leaves (native trees growing on all atoll islands)] are log normally distributed (LND) with geometric standard deviation (GSD) = 1.85. TF for DCM from Enewetak, Eneu, Rongelap and Bikini Atolls are LND with GSD's of 3.5, 3.0, 2.7, and 2.1, respectively. TF GSD for Rongelap copra coconut meat is 2.5. IPCR of Pandanus fruit to SCA and TOU leaves are LND with GSD = 1.7 while TF GSD is 2.1. Because IPCR variability is much lower than TF variability, relative sampling error of an IPCR field sample mean is up 6- to 10-fold lower than that of a TF sample mean if sample sizes are small (10 to 20). Other IPCR advantages are that plant leaf samples are collected and processed in far less time with much less effort and cost than soil samples.« less

Nuclear Bombs and Coral: Guam Coral Core Reveals Operation-Specific Radiocarbon Signals from the Pacific Proving Grounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrews, A. H.

2016-12-01

Radiocarbon (14C) analyses on a coral core extracted from the western Central Pacific (Guam) has revealed a series of early peaks in the marine bomb 14C record. The typical marine bomb 14C signal, one that is phase lagged and attenuated relative to atmospheric bomb 14C, is present in the coral core and is consistent with other North Pacific records. However, 14C levels that are well above what can be explained by air-sea diffusion alone punctuate this pattern. This anomaly has been demonstrated to a limited extent in other coral cores of the Indo-Pacific region, but is unmatched relative to the magnitude and temporal resolution recorded in the Guam coral core. Other records have shown an early Δ14C rise on the order of 40-50‰ above pre-bomb levels, with a subsequent decline before continuing the gradual Δ14C rise that is indicative of air-sea diffusion of 14CO2. The Guam coral Δ14C record provided three strong pulses in 1954-55, 1956-57, and 1958-59 that are superimposed on the pre-bomb to initial Δ14C rise from atmospheric bomb 14C. Each of these peaks can be directly linked to testing of thermonuclear devices in the Pacific Proving Grounds at Eniwetok and Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The measurable lag in reaching Guam can be tied to ocean surface currents and can be traced to other regional Δ14C records from corals, providing a transport timeline to places as distant as the Indonesian throughflow, Okinawa and Palmyra.

A brief history of people and events related to atomic weapons testing in the Marshall Islands.

PubMed

Simon, S L

1997-07-01

The events related to nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands began at the end of WWII when the U.S. began an initiative to determine the effect of nuclear weapons on naval vessels and on the performance of military personnel. The first tests took place in 1946 even though the area known as Micronesia was not entrusted to the U.S. by the United Nations until 1947. Beginning with the first relocation of the Bikini people to Rongerik Atoll in 1946, the saga of the Marshall Islands involvement in the atomic age began. Although the testing program was limited to the years 1946 through 1958, many of the consequences and events related to the testing program continued over the decades since. That story is still ongoing with programs currently underway to attempt to resettle previously displaced communities, remediate contaminated islands, and to settle claims of damages to individuals and communities. The history of the years subsequent to 1958 are a mixed chronicle of a few original scientific investigations aimed at understanding the coral atoll environment, continued surveillance of the acutely exposed Marshallese, some efforts at cleanup and remediation, numerous monitoring programs and many studies repeated either for credibility purposes, to satisfy international demands or because the changing state of knowledge of radiation protection has necessitated us to rethink earlier beliefs and conclusions about late health effects and social consequences. The objective of this paper is to briefly note many of the historical and political events, scientific studies, persons and publications from 1946 to the present that relate to atomic weapons testing in the Marshall Islands.

The effect of carbonate soil on transport and dose estimates for long-lived radionuclides at a U.S. Pacific test site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Conrado, C L; Hamilton, T F; Robison, W L

1999-01-01

The US conducted a series of nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958 at Bikini, a coral atoll, in the Marshall Islands (MI). The aquatic and terrestrial environments of the atoll are still contaminated with several long-lived radionuclides that were generated during testing. The four major radionuclides found in terrestrial plants and soils are Cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs), Strontium-90 ({sup 90}Sr), Plutonium-239+240 ({sup 239+240}Pu) and Americium-241 ({sup 241}Am). {sup 137}Cs in the coral soils is more available for uptake by plants than {sup 137}Cs associated with continental soils of North America or Europe. Soil-to-plant {sup 137}Cs median concentration ratios (CR) (kBq kg{supmore » {minus}1} dry weight plant/kBq kg{sup {minus}1} dry weight soil) for tropical fruits and vegetables range between 0.8 and 36, much larger than the range of 0.005 to 0.5 reported for vegetation in temperate zones. Conversely, {sup 90}Sr median CRs range from 0.006 to 1.0 at the atoll versus a range from 0.02 to 3.0 for continental silica-based soils. Thus, the relative uptake of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 90}Sr by plants in carbonate soils is reversed from that observed in silica-based soils. The CRs for {sup 239+240}Pu and {sup 241}Am are very similar to those observed in continental soils. Values range from 10{sup {minus}6} to 10{sup {minus}4} for both {sup 239+240}Pu and {sup 241}Am. No significant difference is observed between the two in coral soil.« less

Urinary excretion of radionuclides from Marshallese exposed to fallout from the 1954 Bravo nuclear test.

PubMed

Harris, Payne S; Simon, Steven L; Ibrahim, Shawki A

2010-08-01

Soon after the Bravo nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 1 March 1954, urine samples were collected for analysis of excreted radioactivity from native residents exposed to radioactive fallout on two atolls as well as from U.S. military personnel on a third atoll. The earliest acquired samples, obtained by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), were assayed for various radionuclides and provided the first known measurements of (131)I in urine following exposure to fallout from a nuclear test. Over the course of 1954, many additional samples were collected by the LASL, as well as by the Atomic Energy Commission New York Operations Office's Health and Safety Laboratory and the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. Collectively, the groups sampled included Marshallese exposed on Rongelap and Ailinginae Atolls, American military weather observers temporarily resident on Rongerik Atoll, and sailors from the Japanese fishing vessel, the Lucky Dragon. While the bioassay measurement data and individual urine volumes have been crucial to various attempts to assess intakes of radioactivity and the related internal radiation doses among the Marshallese, those data have never been published in any peer-reviewed journal, but have been restricted to agency memoranda, laboratory reports, and summaries in some publications and book chapters. Reconstructions of internal doses to Marshallese in 1954 and in later years have depended on these data and, hence, they have considerable historical importance as well as importance to ongoing health risk projections for Marshallese. This paper presents much of the original data on urine volumes and radioactivity from the various assays of urine for radionuclides, and compares estimates of (131)I intakes made in 1954, 1985, 1987, and 2008.

URINARY EXCRETION OF RADIONUCLIDES FROM MARSHALLESE EXPOSED TO FALLOUT FROM THE 1954 BRAVO NUCLEAR TEST

PubMed Central

Harris, Payne S.; Simon, Steven L.; Ibrahim, Shawki A.

2014-01-01

Soon after the Bravo nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 1 March 1954, urine samples were collected for analysis of excreted radioactivity from native residents exposed to radioactive fallout on two atolls as well as from U.S. military personnel on a third atoll. The earliest acquired samples, obtained by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), were assayed for various radionuclides and provided the first known measurements of 131I in urine following exposure to fallout from a nuclear test. Over the course of 1954, many additional samples were collected by the LASL, as well as by the Atomic Energy Commission New York Operations Office’s Health and Safety Laboratory and the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. Collectively, the groups sampled included Marshallese exposed on Rongelap and Ailinginae Atolls, American military weather observers temporarily resident on Rongerik Atoll, and sailors from the Japanese fishing vessel, the Lucky Dragon. While the bioassay measurement data and individual urine volumes have been crucial to various attempts to assess intakes of radioactivity and the related internal radiation doses among the Marshallese, those data have never been published in any peer-reviewed journal, but have been restricted to agency memoranda, laboratory reports, and summaries in some publications and book chapters. Reconstructions of internal doses to Marshallese in 1954 and in later years have depended on these data and, hence, they have considerable historical importance as well as importance to ongoing health risk projections for Marshallese. This paper presents much of the original data on urine volumes and radioactivity from the various assays of urine for radionuclides, and compares estimates of 131I intakes made in 1954, 1985, 1987, and 2008. PMID:20622553

Bomb-produced radiocarbon in the western tropical Pacific Ocean: Guam coral reveals operation-specific signals from the Pacific Proving Grounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrews, Allen H.; Asami, Ryuji; Iryu, Yasufumi; Kobayashi, Donald R.; Camacho, Frank

2016-08-01

High-resolution radiocarbon (14C) analyses on a coral core extracted from Guam, a western tropical Pacific island, revealed a series of early bomb-produced 14C spikes. The typical marine bomb 14C signal—phase lagged and attenuated relative to atmospheric records—is present in the coral and is consistent with other regional coral records. However, 14C levels well above what can be attributed to air-sea diffusion alone punctuate this pattern. This anomaly was observed in other Indo-Pacific coral records, but the Guam record is unmatched in magnitude and temporal resolution. The Guam coral Δ14C record provided three spikes in 1954-1955, 1956-1957, and 1958-1959 that are superimposed on a normal 14C record. Relative to mean prebomb levels, the first peak rises an incredible ˜700‰ and remained elevated for ˜1.2 years. A follow up assay with finer resolution increased the peak by ˜300‰. Subsequent spikes were less intense with a rise of ˜35 and ˜70‰. Each can be linked to thermonuclear testing in the Pacific Proving Grounds at Bikini and Enewetak atolls in Operations Castle (1954), Redwing (1956), and Hardtack I (1958). These 14C signals can be explained by vaporization of coral reef material in the nuclear fireball, coupled with neutron activation of atmospheric nitrogen (14C production), and subsequent absorption of 14CO2 to form particulate carbonates of close-in fallout. The lag time in reaching Guam and other coral records abroad was tied to ocean surface currents and modeling provided validation of 14C arrival observations.

A moat around castle walls. The role of axillary and facial hair in lymph node protection from mutagenic factors.

PubMed

Komarova, Svetlana V

2006-01-01

Axillary hair is a highly conserved phenotypical feature in humans, and as such deserves at least consideration of its functional significance. Protection from environmental factors is one of the main functions attributed to hair in furred vertebrates, but is believed to be inapplicable to humans. I considered the hypothesis that the phenotypic preservation of axillary hair is due to its unrecognized role in the organism protection. Two immediate questions arise--what exactly is being protected and what it is protected from. A large group of axillary lymph nodes represents a major difference between underarms and the adjacent areas of the trunk. The consideration of potential factors from which hair can offer protection identifies sunlight as the most likely candidate. Intense sweat production underarms may represent an independent defense mechanism, specifically protecting lymph nodes from overheating. Moreover, the pattern of facial hair growth in males strikingly overlaps with the distribution of superficial lymph nodes, suggesting potential role for facial hair in protection of lymph nodes, and possibly thymus and thyroid. The idea of lymph node protection from environmental mutagenic factors, such as UV radiation and heat, appears particularly important in light of wide association of lymph nodes with cancers. The position of contemporary fashion towards body hair is aggressively negative, including the social pressure for removal of axillary and bikini line hair for women, facial hair for men in many professional occupations, and even body hair for men. If this hypothesis is proven to be true, the implications will be significant for immunology (by providing new insights in lymph node physiology), health sciences (depilation is painful and therefore easily modifiable habit if proven to increase disease risk), as well as art, social fashion and economy.

RADIATION DOSES AND CANCER RISKS IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS ASSOCIATED WITH EXPOSURE TO RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT FROM BIKINI AND ENEWETAK NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTS: SUMMARY

PubMed Central

Simon, Steven L.; Bouville, André; Land, Charles E.; Beck, Harold L.

2014-01-01

Nuclear weapons testing conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls during 1946–1958 resulted in exposures of the resident population of the present-day Republic of the Marshall Islands to radioactive fallout. This paper summarizes the results of a thorough and systematic reconstruction of radiation doses to that population, by year, age at exposure, and atoll of residence, and the related cancer risks. Detailed methods and results are presented in a series of companion papers in this volume. From our analysis, we concluded that 20 of the 66 nuclear tests conducted in or near the Marshall Islands resulted in measurable fallout deposition on one or more of the inhabited atolls of the Marshall Islands. In this work, we estimated deposition densities (kBq m−2) of all important dose-contributing radionuclides at each of the 32 atolls and separate reef islands of the Marshall Islands. Quantitative deposition estimates were made for 63 radionuclides from each test at each atoll. Those estimates along with reported measurements of exposure rates at various times after fallout were used to estimate radiation absorbed doses to the red bone marrow, thyroid gland, stomach wall, and colon wall of atoll residents from both external and internal exposure. Annual doses were estimated for six age groups ranging from newborns to adults. We found that the total deposition of 137Cs, external dose, internal organ doses, and cancer risks followed the same geographic pattern with the large population of the southern atolls receiving the lowest doses. Permanent residents of the southern atolls who were of adult age at the beginning of the testing period received external doses ranging from 5 to 12 mGy on average; the external doses to adults at the mid-latitude atolls ranged from 22 to 59 mGy on average, while the residents of the northern atolls received external doses in the hundreds to over 1,000 mGy. Internal doses varied significantly by age at exposure, location, and organ. Except for internal doses to the thyroid gland, external exposure was generally the major contributor to organ doses, particularly for red bone marrow and stomach wall. Internal doses to the stomach wall and red bone marrow were similar in magnitude, about 1 mGy to 7 mGy for permanent residents of the southern and mid-latitude atolls. However, adult residents of Utrik and Rongelap Island, which are part of the northern atolls, received much higher internal doses because of intakes of short-lived radionuclides leading to doses from 20 mGy to more than 500 mGy to red bone marrow and stomach wall. In general, internal doses to the colon wall were four to ten times greater than those to the red bone marrow and internal doses to the thyroid gland were 20 to 30 times greater than to the red bone marrow. Adult internal thyroid doses for the Utrik community and for the Rongelap Island community were about 760 mGy and 7,600 mGy, respectively. The highest doses were to the thyroid glands of young children exposed on Rongelap at the time of the Castle Bravo test of 1 March 1954 and were about three times higher than for adults. Internal doses from chronic intakes, related to residual activities of long-lived radionuclides in the environment, were, in general, low in comparison with acute exposure resulting from the intakes of radionuclides immediately or soon after the deposition of fallout. The annual doses and the population sizes at each atoll in each year were used to develop estimates of cancer risks for the permanent residents of all atolls that were inhabited during the testing period as well as for the Marshallese population groups that were relocated prior to the testing or after it had begun. About 170 excess cancers (radiation-related cases) are projected to occur among more than 25,000 Marshallese, half of whom were born before 1948. All but about 65 of those cancers are estimated to have already been expressed. The 170 excess cancers are in comparison to about 10,600 cancers that would spontaneously arise, unrelated to radioactive fallout, among the same cohort of Marshallese people. PMID:20622547

Radiation doses and cancer risks in the Marshall Islands associated with exposure to radioactive fallout from Bikini and Enewetak nuclear weapons tests: summary.

PubMed

Simon, Steven L; Bouville, André; Land, Charles E; Beck, Harold L

2010-08-01

Nuclear weapons testing conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls during 1946-1958 resulted in exposures of the resident population of the present-day Republic of the Marshall Islands to radioactive fallout. This paper summarizes the results of a thorough and systematic reconstruction of radiation doses to that population, by year, age at exposure, and atoll of residence, and the related cancer risks. Detailed methods and results are presented in a series of companion papers in this volume. From our analysis, we concluded that 20 of the 66 nuclear tests conducted in or near the Marshall Islands resulted in measurable fallout deposition on one or more of the inhabited atolls of the Marshall Islands. In this work, we estimated deposition densities (kBq m(-2)) of all important dose-contributing radionuclides at each of the 32 atolls and separate reef islands of the Marshall Islands. Quantitative deposition estimates were made for 63 radionuclides from each test at each atoll. Those estimates along with reported measurements of exposure rates at various times after fallout were used to estimate radiation absorbed doses to the red bone marrow, thyroid gland, stomach wall, and colon wall of atoll residents from both external and internal exposure. Annual doses were estimated for six age groups ranging from newborns to adults. We found that the total deposition of 137Cs, external dose, internal organ doses, and cancer risks followed the same geographic pattern with the large population of the southern atolls receiving the lowest doses. Permanent residents of the southern atolls who were of adult age at the beginning of the testing period received external doses ranging from 5 to 12 mGy on average; the external doses to adults at the mid-latitude atolls ranged from 22 to 59 mGy on average, while the residents of the northern atolls received external doses in the hundreds to over 1,000 mGy. Internal doses varied significantly by age at exposure, location, and organ. Except for internal doses to the thyroid gland, external exposure was generally the major contributor to organ doses, particularly for red bone marrow and stomach wall. Internal doses to the stomach wall and red bone marrow were similar in magnitude, about 1 mGy to 7 mGy for permanent residents of the southern and mid-latitude atolls. However, adult residents of Utrik and Rongelap Island, which are part of the northern atolls, received much higher internal doses because of intakes of short-lived radionuclides leading to doses from 20 mGy to more than 500 mGy to red bone marrow and stomach wall. In general, internal doses to the colon wall were four to ten times greater than those to the red bone marrow and internal doses to the thyroid gland were 20 to 30 times greater than to the red bone marrow. Adult internal thyroid doses for the Utrik community and for the Rongelap Island community were about 760 mGy and 7,600 mGy, respectively. The highest doses were to the thyroid glands of young children exposed on Rongelap at the time of the Castle Bravo test of 1 March 1954 and were about three times higher than for adults. Internal doses from chronic intakes, related to residual activities of long-lived radionuclides in the environment, were, in general, low in comparison with acute exposure resulting from the intakes of radionuclides immediately or soon after the deposition of fallout. The annual doses and the population sizes at each atoll in each year were used to develop estimates of cancer risks for the permanent residents of all atolls that were inhabited during the testing period as well as for the Marshallese population groups that were relocated prior to the testing or after it had begun. About 170 excess cancers (radiation-related cases) are projected to occur among more than 25,000 Marshallese, half of whom were born before 1948. All but about 65 of those cancers are estimated to have already been expressed. The 170 excess cancers are in comparison to about 10,600 cancers that would spontaneously arise, unrelated to radioactive fallout, among the same cohort of Marshallese people.

University of Washington's radioecological studies in the Marshall Islands, 1946-1977.

PubMed

Donaldson, L R; Seymour, A H; Nevissi, A E

1997-07-01

Since 1946, personnel from the School of Fisheries, University of Washington (Applied Fisheries Laboratory, 1943-1958; Laboratory of Radiation Biology, 1958-1967; and Laboratory of Radiation Ecology, since 1967), have studied the effects of nuclear detonations and the ensuing radioactivity on the marine and terrestrial environments throughout the Central Pacific. A collection of reports and publications about these activities plus a collection of several thousand samples from these periods are kept at the School of Fisheries. General findings from the surveys show that (1) fission products were prevalent in organisms of the terrestrial environment whereas activation products were prevalent in marine organisms; (2) the best biological indicators of fallout radionuclides by environments were (a) terrestrial-coconuts, land crabs; (b) reef-algae, invertebrates; and (c) marine-plankton, fish. Studies of plutonium and americium in Bikini Atoll showed that during 1971-1977 the highest concentrations of 241Am, 2.85 Bq g(-1) (77 pCi g(-1)) and 239,240Pu, 4.44 Bq g(-1) (120 pCi g(-1)), in surface sediments were found in the northwest part of the lagoon. The concentrations in the bomb craters were substantially lower than these values. Concentrations of soluble and particulate plutonium and americium in surface and deep water samples showed distributions similar to the sediment samples. That is, the highest concentration of these radionuclides in the water column were at locations with highest sediment concentration. Continuous circulation of water in the lagoon and exchange of water with open ocean resulted in removal of 111 G Bq y(-1) (3 Ci y(-1)) 241Am and 222 G Bq y(-1) (6 Ci y(-1)) 239,240Pu into the North Equatorial Current. A summary of the surveys, findings, and the historical role of the Laboratory in radioecological studies of the Marshall Islands are presented.

An estimate by two methods of thyroid absorbed doses due to BRAVO fallout in several Northern Marshall Islands.

PubMed

Musolino, S V; Greenhouse, N A; Hull, A P

1997-10-01

Estimates of the thyroid absorbed doses due to fallout originating from the 1 March 1954 BRAVO thermonuclear test on Bikini Atoll have been made for several inhabited locations in the Northern Marshall Islands. Rongelap, Utirik, Rongerik and Ailinginae Atolls were also inhabited on 1 March 1954, where retrospective thyroid absorbed doses have previously been reconstructed. The current estimates are based primarily on external exposure data, which were recorded shortly after each nuclear test in the Castle Series, and secondarily on soil concentrations of 137Cs in samples collected in 1978 and 1988, along with aerial monitoring done in 1978. The external exposures and 137Cs soil concentrations were representative of the atmospheric transport and deposition patterns of the entire Castle Series tests and show that the BRAVO test was the major contributor to fallout exposure during the Castle series and other test series which were carried out in the Marshall Islands. These data have been used as surrogates for fission product radioiodines and telluriums in order to estimate the range of thyroid absorbed doses that may have occurred throughout the Marshall Islands. Dosimetry based on these two sets of estimates agreed within a factor of 4 at the locations where BRAVO was the dominant contributor to the total exposure and deposition. Both methods indicate that thyroid absorbed doses in the range of 1 Gy (100 rad) may have been incurred in some of the northern locations, whereas the doses at southern locations did not significantly exceed levels comparable to those from worldwide fallout. The results of these estimates indicate that a systematic medical survey for thyroid disease should be conducted, and that a more definitive dose reconstruction should be made for all the populated atolls and islands in the Northern Marshall Islands beyond Rongelap, Utirik, Rongerik and Ailinginae, which were significantly contaminated by BRAVO fallout.

STUDIES ON LARGE AREA SUB-FABRIC BURNS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berkley, K.M.; Pearse, H.E.

1957-07-05

The detonation of shot one at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, produced a fallout of radioactive ash upon Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands. The distribution of the radioactive ash on the islands and in the plants and animals of the area has been studied and evaluated. During the first expedition to Rongelap Atoll on March 26, 1954, biological samples were collected and measurements made of the radiation contamination. On three additional expeditions extensive collections of material were made for this study, the last on January 25-30, 1955. The decline in radioactivity was measured in 1499 samples of fish, invertebrates, landmore » plants, algae, birds, plankton, soil, and water from the Rongelap area. During this study particular emphasis was placed upon evaluation of the radioactivity in food used by the natives. Coconut milk collected on March 26, 1954, contained 1.03 microcuries per kilogram of wet tissue while the coconut meat had 1.16 mu c/kg. By January 25-30, 1955, the level in coconut milk had declined to 0.041 mu c/kg and the meat to 0.036 mu c/ kg. Fish muscle on March 26, 1954, averaged 2.74 mu c/kg and fish liver 204.0 mu c/kg. The decline to January 25-30 was 0.10 mu c/kg for the muscle and 3.52 mu c/kg for the liver of fish. Somewhat similar declines were found for clam muscle, crab muscle, bird muscle and liver, and for squash, papaya, arrowroot and pandanus. The level of radioactivity was highest in the northern portion of the atoll, except for samples of algae and fish-eating birds, collected during January 1955 from the southern part of the atoll, which had higher levels of radioactivity than samples collected from the northern islands on the same date. This may indicate a translocation of radioactive materials within the lagoon. (auth)« less

An Assessment of the Current Day Impact of Various Materials Associated with the U.S. Nuclear Test Program in the Marshall Island

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robison, W L; Noshkin, V E; Hamilton, T F

2001-05-01

Different stable elements, and some natural and man-made radionuclides, were used as tracers or associated in other ways with nuclear devices that were detonated at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls as part of the U.S. nuclear testing program from 1946 through 1958. The question has been raised whether any of these materials dispersed by the explosions could be of sufficient concentration in either the marine environment or on the coral islands to be of a health concern to people living, or planning to live, on the atolls. This report addresses that concern. An inventory of the materials involved during the testmore » period was prepared and provided to us by the Office of Defense Programs (DP) of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The materials that the DOE and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) ask to be evaluated are--sulfur, arsenic, yttrium, tantalum, gold, rhodium, indium, tungsten, thallium, thorium-230,232 ({sup 230,232}Th), uranium-233,238 ({sup 233,238}U), polonium-210 ({sup 210}Po), curium-232 ({sup 232}Cu), and americium-241 ({sup 241}Am). The stable elements were used primarily as tracers for determining neutron energy and flux, and for other diagnostic purposes in the larger yield, multistage devices. It is reasonable to assume that these materials would be distributed in a similar manner as the fission products subsequent to detonation. A large inventory of fission product and uranium data was available for assessment. Detailed calculations show only a very small fraction of the fission products produced during the entire test series remain at the test site atolls. Consequently, based on the information provided, we conclude that the concentration of these materials in the atoll environment pose no adverse health effects to humans.« less

Radiation doses to local populations near nuclear weapons test sites worldwide.

PubMed

Simon, Steven L; Bouville, André

2002-05-01

Nuclear weapons testing was conducted in the atmosphere at numerous sites worldwide between 1946 and 1980, which resulted in exposures to local populations as a consequence of fallout of radioactive debris. The nuclear tests were conducted by five nations (United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, and China) primarily at 16 sites. The 16 testing sites, located in nine different countries on five continents (plus Oceania) contributed nearly all of the radioactive materials released to the environment by atmospheric testing; only small amounts were released at a fewother minor testing sites. The 16 sites discussed here are Nevada Test Site, USA (North American continent), Bikini and Enewetak, Marshall Islands (Oceania); Johnston Island, USA (Oceania), Christmas and Malden Island, Kiribati (Oceania); Emu Field, Maralinga, and Monte Bello Islands, Australia (Australian continent); Mururoa and Fangataufa, French Polynesia (Oceania), Reggane, Algeria (Africa), Novaya Zemlya and Kapustin Yar, Russia (Europe), Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan (Asia), and Lop Nor, China (Asia). There were large differences in the numbers of tests conducted at each location and in the total explosive yields. Those factors, as well as differences in population density, lifestyle, environment, and climate at each site, led to large differences in the doses received by local populations. In general, the tests conducted earliest led to the highest individual and population exposures, although the amount of information available for a few of these sites is insufficient to provide any detailed evaluation of radiation exposures. The most comprehensive information for any site is for the Nevada Test Site. The disparities in available information add difficulty to determining the radiation exposures of local populations at each site. It is the goal of this paper to summarize the available information on external and internal doses received by the public living in the regions near each of the mentioned nuclear test sites as a consequence of local fallout deposition.

The Northern Marshall Islands Radiological Survey: data and dose assessments.

PubMed

Robison, W L; Noshkin, V E; Conrado, C L; Eagle, R J; Brunk, J L; Jokela, T A; Mount, M E; Phillips, W A; Stoker, A C; Stuart, M L; Wong, K M

1997-07-01

Fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests, especially from those conducted at the Pacific Proving Grounds between 1946 and 1958, contaminated areas of the Northern Marshall Islands. A radiological survey at some Northern Marshall Islands was conducted from September through November 1978 to evaluate the extent of residual radioactive contamination. The atolls included in the Northern Marshall Islands Radiological Survey (NMIRS) were Likiep, Ailuk, Utirik, Wotho, Ujelang, Taka, Rongelap, Rongerik, Bikar, Ailinginae, and Mejit and Jemo Islands. The original test sites, Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, were also visited on the survey. An aerial survey was conducted to determine the external gamma exposure rate. Terrestrial (soil, food crops, animals, and native vegetation), cistern and well water samples, and marine (sediment, seawater, fish and clams) samples were collected to evaluate radionuclide concentrations in the atoll environment. Samples were processed and analyzed for 137Cs, 90Sr, 239+240Pu and 241Am. The dose from the ingestion pathway was calculated using the radionuclide concentration data and a diet model for local food, marine, and water consumption. The ingestion pathway contributes 70% to 90% of the estimated dose. Approximately 95% of the dose is from 137Cs. 90Sr is the second most significant radionuclide via ingestion. External gamma exposure from 137Cs accounts for about 10% to 30% of the dose. 239+240Pu and 241Am are the major contributors to dose via the inhalation pathway; however, inhalation accounts for only about 1% of the total estimated dose, based on surface soil levels and resuspension studies. All doses are computed for concentrations decay corrected to 1996. The maximum annual effective dose from manmade radionuclides at these atolls ranges from .02 mSv y(-1) to 2.1 mSv y(-1). The background dose in the Marshall Islands is estimated to be 2.4 mSv y(-1). The combined dose from both background and bomb related radionuclides ranges from slightly over 2.4 mSv y(-1) to 4.5 mSv y(-1). The 50-y integral dose ranges from 0.5 to 65 mSv.

Queen Maud Land Traverses: Surface Glaciology (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cameron, R. L.

2009-12-01

One of the main tasks of a glaciologist is to determine the mass budget of a glacier; and snow accumulation is the first part of the equation. To do this, a great number of snow pits must be dug to analyze the stratigraphy. A. P. Crary once said “to be a glaciologist one should first of all love to dig snow pits.” Seventy-five snow pits were dug on the SPQMLT traverses. Several experienced glaciologists had difficulty in interpreting the stratigraphic sequences in these pits. Irregular layering, caused by uneven deposition and subsequent erosion, suggested that some of the layers could be missing. However, the fallout of artificial radioactive nuclides released by the first large thermonuclear bomb test, on March 1, 1954, at Castle Bravo on Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, produced a datum horizon over the Antarctic ice sheet. This horizon is the summer of 1954-55 and provides the basis for measuring the average accumulation since 1955. Accumulation varied from 6.7 ± 0.2 g cm-2 yr-1 at South Pole Station to a low of 0.6 ± 0.2 g cm-2 yr-1 in a pit on the second leg of SPQMLT 2. The average accumulation along the entire traverse route was 3.7 g cm-2 yr-1. Temperatures at ten meters (considered an approximate mean annual air temperature) varied from -58.4 degrees Centigrade at Plateau Station (elevation 3620 meters) to -38 degrees Centigrade at the terminus of SPQMLT 3 (elevation 2310 meters). The condition of the ice sheet surface varied considerably. Some surface was quite hard and easy to traverse; while other areas that were smooth and soft were troublesome enough to bog down vehicles and sleds. Sastrugi were sporadic with some as high as a meter. A large crevasse field forced a slight change in course toward the end of the first leg of SPQMLT 2. There the ice thickness changed dramatically from 3060 meters to 1852 meters. At the time the geophysicist said, “The ‘bottom’ came up so fast I thought we would hit a nunatak.”

Space: The Final Frontier-Research Relevant to Mars.

PubMed

Boice, John D

2017-04-01

A critically important gap in knowledge surrounds the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. Much is known about the health effects of brief high-dose exposures, such as from the atomic bombings in Japan, but the concerns today focus on the frequent low-dose exposures received by members of the public, workers, and, as addressed in this paper, astronauts. Additional guidance is needed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for planning long-term missions where the rate of radiation exposure is gradual over years and the cumulative amounts high. The direct study of low doses and low-dose rates is of immeasurable value in understanding the possible range of health effects from gradual exposures and in providing guidance for radiation protection, not only of workers and the public but also astronauts. The ongoing Million Person Study (MPS) is 10 times larger than the study of the Japanese atomic bomb survivors of 86,000 survivors with estimated doses. The number of workers with >100 mSv career dose is substantially greater. The large study size, broad range of doses, and long follow-up indicate substantial statistical ability to quantify the risk of exposures that are received gradually over time. The study consists of 360,000 U.S. Department of Energy workers from the Manhattan Project; 150,000 nuclear utility workers from the inception of the nuclear age; 115,000 atomic veterans who participated in above-ground atmospheric tests at the Nevada Test Site and the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls and Johnston Island in the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG); 250,000 radiologists and medical workers; and 130,000 industrial radiographers. NASA uses an individual risk-based system for radiation protection in contrast to the system of dose limits for occupational exposures used by terrestrial-based organizations. The permissible career exposure limit set by NASA for each astronaut is a 3% risk of exposure-induced death (REID) from cancer at a 95% confidence level to account for uncertainties in risk projections. The large size of the MPS will reduce the uncertainty in the risk estimates, narrowing the 95% confidence interval, and thus allow more time in space for astronauts. Further differences between men and women in their response to radiation can be more fully examined, and non-cancer outcomes, such as neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease, can be evaluated in a way not hitherto possible.

Effect of carbonate soil on transport and dose estimates from long-lived radionuclides at U. S. Pacific Test Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Conrado, C.L.; Hamilton, T.F.; Robison, W.L.

1998-09-01

The United States conducted a series of nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958 at Bikini, a coral atoll, in the Marshall Islands (MI). The aquatic and terrestrial environments of the atoll are still contaminated with several long-lived radionuclides that were generated during testing. The four major radionuclides found in terrestrial plants and soils are Cesium-137 ({sup 137} Cs), Strontium-90 ({sup 90} Sr), Plutonium-239+ 240 ({sup 239+240}Pu) and Americium-241 ({sup 241}Am). {sup 137}Cs in the coral soils is more available for uptake by plants than {sup 137}Cs associated with continental soils of North America or Europe. Soil-to-plant {sup 137}Cs median concentrationmore » ratios (CR) (kBq kg{sup {minus}1} dry weight plant/kBq kg {sup {minus}1} dry weight soil) for tropical fruits and vegetables range between 0.8 and 36, much larger than the range of 0.005 to 0.5 reported for vegetation in temperate zones. Conversely, {sup 90}Sr median CRs range from 0.006 to 1.0 at the atoll versus a range from 0.02 to 3.0 for continental silica-based soils. Thus, the relative uptake of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 90}Sr by plants in carbonate soils is reversed from that observed in silica-based soils. The CRs for {sup 239+240}Pu and {sup 241}Am are very similar to those observed in continental soils. Values range from 10{sup {minus}6} to 10{sup {minus}4} for both {sup 239+240}Pu and {sup 241}Am. No significant difference is observed between the two in coral soil. The uptake of {sup 137}Cs by plants is enhanced because of the absence of mineral binding sites and the low concentration of potassium in the coral soil. {sup 137}Cs is bound to the organic fraction of the soil, whereas {sup 90}Sr, {sup 239+240}Pu and {sup 241}Am are primarily bound to soil particles. Assessment of plant uptake for {sup 137}Cs and {sup 90}Sr into locally grown food crops was a major contributing factor in (1) reliably predicting the radiological dose for returning residents, and (2) developing a strategy to limit the availability and uptake of {sup 137}Cs into locally g« less

PROJECTED LIFETIME CANCER RISKS FROM EXPOSURE TO REGIONAL RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS

PubMed Central

Land, Charles E.; Bouville, Andre; Apostoaei, Iulian; Simon, Steven L.

2013-01-01

Radioactive fallout from nuclear test detonations during 1946–1958 at Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the Marshall Islands (MI) exposed populations living elsewhere in the archipelago. A comprehensive analysis, presented in seven companion papers, has produced estimates of tissue-specific radiation absorbed dose to MI residents at all historically inhabited atolls from internal (ingested) and external radioactive components of fallout, by calendar year, and by age of the population at time of exposure. The present report deals, for the first time, with the implications of these doses on cancer risk among exposed members of the MI population. Radiation doses differed by geographic location and year of birth, and radiation-related cancer risk depends upon age at exposure and age at observation for risk. Using dose-response models based on committee reports published by the National Research Council and the National Institutes of Health, we project that, during the lifetimes of members of the MI population potentially exposed to ionizing radiation from weapons test fallout deposited during the testing period (1948–1958) and from residual radioactive sources during the subsequent 12 years (1959–1970), perhaps 1.6% (with 90% uncertainty range 0.4% and 3.4%) of all cancers might be attributable to fallout-related radiation exposures. The projected proportion of cancers attributable to radiation from fallout from all nuclear tests conducted in the Marshall Islands is 55% (28%–69%) among 82 persons exposed in 1954 on Rongelap and Ailinginae, 10% (2%–22%) for 157 persons exposed on Utrik, and 2% (0.5%–5%) and 1% (0.2%–2%), respectively, for the much larger populations exposed in mid-latitude locations including Kwajalein and in southern locations including Majuro. By cancer type, point estimates of attributable risk varied by location, between 12% and 95% for thyroid cancer, between 2% and 78% for leukemia, and between 1% and 55% for all cancers combined. The largest projected risks pertain to the Rongelap Island community and the lowest risks pertain to the populations resident on the southern-most atolls. While the projected cancer risks are smaller than those estimated by the National Cancer Institute in simplistic analyses conducted in 2004, these estimates of cancer risk are the best available as they are based on the most detailed dose reconstruction to date and comprehensively include populations at all locations and dose contributions from all nuclear tests. PMID:20622551

Projected lifetime cancer risks from exposure to regional radioactive fallout in the Marshall Islands.

PubMed

Land, Charles E; Bouville, André; Apostoaei, Iulian; Simon, Steven L

2010-08-01

Radioactive fallout from nuclear test detonations during 1946-1958 at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the Marshall Islands (MI) exposed populations living elsewhere in the MI archipelago. A comprehensive analysis, presented in seven companion papers, has produced estimates of tissue-specific radiation absorbed dose to MI residents at all historically inhabited atolls from internal (ingested) and external irradiation resulting from exposure to radioactive fallout, by calendar year, and by age of the population at time of exposure. The present report deals, for the first time, with the implications of these doses for cancer risk among exposed members of the MI population. Radiation doses differed by geographic location and year of birth, and radiation-related cancer risk depends upon age at exposure and age at observation for risk. Using dose-response models based on committee reports published by the National Research Council and the National Institutes of Health, we project that, during the lifetimes of members of the MI population potentially exposed to ionizing radiation from weapons test fallout deposited during the testing period (1948-1958) and from residual radioactive sources during the subsequent 12 y (1959-1970), perhaps 1.6% (with 90% uncertainty range 0.4% to 3.4%) of all cancers might be attributable to fallout-related radiation exposures. By sub-population, the projected proportion of cancers attributable to radiation from fallout from all nuclear tests conducted in the Marshall Islands is 55% (28% to 69%) among 82 persons exposed in 1954 on Rongelap and Ailinginae, 10% (2.4% to 22%) for 157 persons exposed on Utrik, and 2.2% (0.5% to 4.8%) and 0.8% (0.2% to 1.8%), respectively, for the much larger populations exposed in mid-latitude locations including Kwajalein and in southern locations including Majuro. By cancer type, point estimates of attributable risk varied, by location, between 12% and 95% for thyroid cancer, between 2% and 78% for leukemia, and between 0.8% and 55% for all cancers combined. The largest projected risks pertain to the Rongelap Island community and the lowest risks pertain to the populations resident on the southern-most atolls. While the projected cancer risks are smaller than those estimated by the National Cancer Institute in a more simplistic analysis conducted in 2004, these estimates of cancer risk are the best available as they are based on the most detailed dose reconstruction to date and comprehensively include populations at all locations and dose contributions from all nuclear tests.

Work on the Super and the Study of Atmospheric Ignition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hull, Mcallister

2001-03-01

By 1951, the group of young faculty (Bob Gluckstern and me), post doctoral fellows and graduate students, was comfortably established in Sloane Laboratory, and as "The Breit Group", in the department of physics at Yale. We didn't consciously separate ourselves from others in the department, and no one seemed to put us apart, but the association with Breit gave us a special "aura"--sometimes as objects of pity. Any project that involved the group as a whole, or a significant part of it, was discussed with Bob and me, and sometime in 1951 Breit called us in to consider a request that we look at the possibility of atmospheric ignition by a "Super" - as we still called it then, after Edward Teller. At the end of my stay at Los Alamos, in the summer of 1946, we youngsters had many bull sessions about that "Super", and the possibility of controlled fusion energy. We were confident that the former would be working in perhaps five years, and the latter within ten. After all, Han Bethe had shown us how the sun made its energy, and all that was needed to do was to replace a couple of his slow beta decays with something faster. As I write, some fifty-four years later, we still haven't got fusion energy for power. Our crystal balls were cloudier than Vicky Weisskopf's were to be! But I knew some of the lingo, and had worked out the way radiation penetrates the atmosphere (for understanding the Bikini tests), so in 1951, initially drew the task of looking at opacity, a key question in the bomb itself, and in the possibility of atmospheric ignition. Most of our limited work on the bomb was checking calculations that had been done by others as the Teller-Ulam design was being put together. At least some work on atmospheric ignition had already been done as well, but Teller wanted the "most careful physicist he knew" to do the definitive calculations, so Breit got the call. I do not recall all the members of the group who worked on the project and for that I apologize - no private notes were allowed because the work was classified. But in addition to Bob Gluckstern, I recall, for reasons that will appear, that John McHale was one of the project workers. At one point I think we were all working on nitrogen reactions ...

Female condoms.

PubMed

Bounds, W

1997-06-01

Early versions of a female condom were available in the 1920s and 1960s, but they were little used and soon forgotten. It took the arrival of AIDS, and the urgent need for a wider range of female-controlled barrier techniques, to rekindle scientific interest in this method. In the 1980s, three groups in Europe and the USA began development of new female condom designs, comprising 'Femidom (Reality)', the 'Bikini Condom', and 'Women's Choice'. Apart from differences in their physical design, Femidom differs from the others in that it is made of a polyurethane membrane, which has several advantages over latex. Of the three, Femidom is the most advanced in terms of development and clinical testing, and it is the only one to have reached the marketing stage. Laboratory studies and clinical trials suggest that its contraceptive efficacy is similar to that documented for the male condom, though a direct comparison is not possible because no comparative clinical trials have, as yet, been undertaken. Reported 'typical-use' pregnancy rates range from 12.4 to 22.2% at 6 months of use in the USA and Latin America, respectively, while a study in the UK observed a rate of 15% at 12 months. As with all barrier methods, most failures appear to be associated with poor compliance or incorrect use. 'Perfect-use' pregnancy rates were substantially lower, indicating that Femidom can be very effective, if used consistently and correctly. Evidence for Femidom's effectiveness to protect against transmission of sexual disease-causing organisms, including HIV, is still very limited and based largely on laboratory studies. Whilst, in theory, the condom should confer reliable protection, its efficacy in clinical use will depend upon correct and consistent use and upon the product's ability to maintain an effective physical barrier throughout penetrative intercourse. In this respect, the results of recent and ongoing clinical studies are expected with much interest. How valuable Femidom will prove to be, in terms of sexual health and contraception, will also depend largely on its long-term user-acceptability. As is generally the case with new methods, initial public interest in Femidom is expected to be high, as was documented in numerous surveys, and there undoubtedly exists a sub-group of women who view the product as their most appropriate contraceptive/sexually transmitted disease prevention option. However, more information on the product's acceptability, based on continuation rates, as is usually applied to other contraceptive techniques, is urgently needed to permit a more reliable assessment of Femidom's position among current methods. The arrival of a female condom represents a welcome addition to the range of female-controlled barrier contraceptives and, because of its numerous potential advantages over the male condom, may play an important role in the prevention of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Monitoring Corals and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Western Pacific Using Satellite Remote Sensing Integrated with Field Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roelfsema, C. M.; Phinn, S. R.; Lyons, M. B.; Kovacs, E.; Saunders, M. I.; Leon, J. X.

2013-12-01

Corals and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) are typically found in highly dynamic environments where the magnitude and types of physical and biological processes controlling their distribution, diversity and function changes dramatically. Recent advances in the types of satellite image data and the length of their archives that are available globally, coupled with new techniques for extracting environmental information from these data sets has enabled significant advances to be made in our ability to map and monitor coral and SAV environments. Object Based Image Analysis techniques are one of the most significant advances in information extraction techniques for processing images to deliver environmental information at multiple spatial scales. This poster demonstrates OBIA applied to high spatial resolution satellite image data to map and monitor coral and SAV communities across a variety of environments in the Western Pacific that vary in their extent, biological composition, forcing physical factors and location. High spatial resolution satellite imagery (Quickbird, Ikonos and Worldview2) were acquired coincident with field surveys on each reef to collect georeferenced benthic photo transects, over various areas in the Western Pacific. Base line maps were created, from Roviana Lagoon Solomon island (600 km2), Bikini Atoll Marshall Island (800 Km2), Lizard Island, Australia (30 km2) and time series maps for geomorphic and benthic communities were collected for Heron Reef, Australia (24 km2) and Eastern Banks area of Moreton Bay, Australia (200 km2). The satellite image data were corrected for radiometric and atmospheric distortions to at-surface reflectance. Georeferenced benthic photos were acquired by divers or Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, analysed for benthic cover composition, and used for calibration and validation purposes. Hierarchical mapping from: reef/non-reef (1000's - 10000's m); reef type (100's - 1000's m); 'geomorphic zone' (10's - 100's m); to dominant components of benthic cover compositions (1 - 10's m); and individual benthic cover type scale (0.5-5.0's m), was completed using object based segmentation and semi-automated labelling through membership rules. Accuracy assessment of the satellite image based maps and field data sets scales maps produced with 90% maximum accuracy larger scales and less complex maps, versus 40 % at smaller scale and complex maps. The study showed that current data sets and object based analysis are able to reliable map at various scales and level of complexity covering a variety of extent and environments at various times; as a result science and management can use these tools to assess and understand the ecological processes taking place in coral and SAV environments.

Radiological Conditions on Rongelap Atoll: Perspective on Resettlement of Rongelap Atoll

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamilton, T F

2003-02-01

The most widely accepted international guidelines for protection of the public from ionizing radiation and in circumstances related to intervention strategies to reduce exposures to preexisting conditions, such as those on Rongelap Island, come from the International Commission on Radiological Protection, the National Council on Radiation Protection and the International Atomic Energy Agency. By all internationally agreed scientific criteria, present radiological conditions on Rongelap Island are considered safe for permanent resettlement. Safe implies that no additional cancer deaths are expected among those living on Rongelap Island beyond the number that would occur in a community of the same population size,more » similar ages and mix of males and females, who do not experience exposure to residual fallout by living on the island. It is expected that the average dose received by Rongelap Island residents will fall well below the dose adopted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal considered a ''safe'' or acceptable health risk. These conclusions are supported by environmental measurements and assessments performed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) including the results of radiological surveillance of resettlement workers living on Rongelap Island for various lengths of time from 1999 through 2002, and independent studies conducted by Japanese scientists. Atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons was responsible for the widespread dispersion of radioactive fallout around the globe. Rongelap Island received higher levels of fallout from local or close-in fallout deposition from nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll. The main pathway for exposure to radiation from the bomb testing is ''internally'' through ingestion of radioactive cesium (cesium-137) taken up from the soil into locally grown foodstuffs. Resettlement workers living on Rongelap Island who ate local foods have volunteered to have the cesium-137 content of their bodies measured. The measuring device is called a whole body counter. A person relaxes in a chair for a few minutes while counts are taken using a detector a few inches away from the body. The whole body counting program on Rongelap Island was established under a cooperative agreement between the Rongelap Atoll Local Government (RALG), the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Local technicians from Rongelap continue to operate the facility under supervision of scientists from LLNL. Whole body counting data collected on resettlement workers during the initial phases of resettlement can tell us what exposure level a permanently resettled population could reasonably expect. The average internal dose to resettlement workers from cesium-137 is less than 1 mrem (0.01 mSv) per year. The highest individual dose observed over the last 3-years was less than 4 mrem (0.04 mSv) per year. The RALG-DOE resettlement support plan also calls for spreading potassium fertilizer across the agricultural areas to prevent the uptake of cesium-137 into plants. Fertilization will reduce the dietary intake of cesium-137 and reduce the dose to island residents. By 2004, over 70 percent of the cesium-137 deposition in soil from fallout in 1954 will have decayed to a non-radioactive substance. Over the next 10-20 years, more than one-half of the remaining cesium-137 in the soil and vegetation of the atoll islands will have disappeared by decay or washed out of the soil by rain. Removing some soil, applying crushed coral around living areas, and spreading potassium fertilizer across agricultural areas will reduce the level of radiation exposure in the resettled population to levels below those considered safe by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal and to levels well below those considered safe by the international scientific community.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamliton, T F

Rongelap Atoll experienced close-in or local fallout from the U.S. nuclear test program conducted in the northern Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958. By all internationally agreed scientific criteria, Rongelap Island is considered safe for permanent resettlement. However, the amount of bomb-related radioactivity in soil and vegetation is, on average, about 5 times greater in the northern islands of the atoll because the centerline of the fallout pattern from the 1954 thermonuclear ''Bravo'' test extended over this part of the atoll. The most important radioactive element remaining on the atoll is radioactive cesium (cesium-137). Cesium-137 emits what is called amore » ''gamma ray'' that can penetrate the body and deliver both an external (outside the body) and internal (from inside the body) gamma dose to inhabitants of Rongelap Atoll. Cesium-137 is taken up from the soil into locally grown foodstuffs such as coconut, Pandanus and breadfruit. Significant quantities of cesium-137 may also be found in coconut crab. The internal dose delivered to people eating these products will be directly proportional to the concentration of cesium-137 in the food and the amount consumed. The external gamma dose will depend on the concentration of cesium-137 in the soil and the amount of time spent in the area. The highest concentration of cesium-137 in surface soils of the northern islands of Rongelap Atoll is about equivalent to that measured on Bikini Island. Under the radiation protection criteria adopted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal, permanent resettlement of these islands would require intervention because of the higher radiation doses that could potentially be delivered to inhabitants living on a diet derived largely from local foods. A more realistic lifestyle scenario is that the resettled population on Rongelap Island will occasionally visit the northern part of the atoll for food gathering, fishing and other recreational activities. It is estimated that a person spending 8 hours (1 work day) in the interior of the Rongelap Atoll northern islands will receive a maximum additional external dose of around 0.1-0.2 mrem per day. Furthermore, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's environmental monitoring continues to show that the marine environment contains very low levels of bomb radioactivity. Similarly, the occasional consumption of terrestrial foods including coconut crab from the northern islands is not expected to add significantly to the radiological health risk of living on Rongelap Island. The average annual effective ingestion dose for Rongelap Island resettlement in 2002 is estimated to be around 1-2 mrem per year when imported foods are made available and proposed remediation efforts take effect. This estimate is about twice that of the Rongelap Island resettlement worker population using direct measurements from the whole body counting program. Resettlement workers presently living on the islands receive an average internal dose from cesium-137 of less than 1 mrem (0.01 mSv) per year. These workers are known to eat locally grown foods and coconut crabs collected from the northern islands. The highest individual dose observed was 4 mrem (0.04 mSv) per year. Under the guidelines adopted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal, it is concluded that diving, fishing and visiting any northern island of Rongelap Atoll are safe activities for limited periods. Eating local fish and other marine life such as clams would also be considered safe. Consumption of plant foods from the northern islands of Rongelap Atoll depends on successful implementation of specific remediation measures to ensure dietary intakes of cesium-137 remain at or below levels considered safe. The whole body counting program should continue to monitor the actual internal levels of cesium-137 among people eating plants and coconut crabs gathered from the northern islands of Rongelap Atoll islands until such time that the Nuclear Claims Tribunal guidelines are met.« less