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1. Attached herewith for your tif ormticm and retention ar~~op E~ of radiological surveys made on certah Marshall Islimd AtoW* The surveys were conducted as a result of contamination deposited on the affected ato~s half nautical miles mut hwest of Namu, Bikini AtoIL BRAVO Shot tk was t my, New York Operations Office, Atoadx Energy Ccmaission (Attention: Mr. Merrill Eisenbud) for mal-Ysbo
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JOINT TASK lWRCE SEVEN SUBJECT: Report on Soil and Wter sampling Mission v Joint Task Force SEVEN San Francisco, California 1, In comp~nce with your oral instructions, the undersi~ed visited u~ and AIIDK Atolls, JEMO Island and WIT Island ti the Eastern Karahal.ls between the period 54 Uarch 1954 for the purpose of collecting soil and water samples am ineasuringlevel of gamma radht ion present at those p3aces h connection with sites and returned to formed by PEW ‘here Bildni, where the remainder of the trip to Eniwetok was perfolhws a detailed discussion of the findings at each locaa. LIKIEP A’I’OLL.The samples were taken on Likiep Island, which had th brgest native popdatione Access to the lagoon was gained through South Ass. Poor light at the end of the day and numerous coral heads necessitated anchorx about 4 miles frGIiI~kiep Islcand. Trip in was nnde by whaleboat the follow~g morning. A wter sample was taken from a brge cistern fed from the roof of the Catholic rectory, and earth samples were taken from random spots abut the island -.’~hichwere unsheltered by trees or other growth at approximately 0S03 ~ 6, Elrch L!and shcwed a mxcimum of 3 milliroentgens per hour. No variations from this reading were noted on clothing or bare feet of tidividuals. hccordin~ to accoun.. received by Bishop Feeney, S.J., the population MS greatly excited by the light >timilated on the day d the test. consists of .a smll heavily wooded isL’.nd,surrounded by a line coral reef with heavy surf on three sides. “Therebeing no place for landing a v~aletoat, personm :.ndequipment were transferred from the whaleboat to the reef by a me FKM rubber raft. The undersigned transferred himself by swbn@. The isL-nd proved to be uninhabited, and reportedly is a sea turtle preserve. Turtle hunters erected several houses, a rain barrel of which provided a water sample. Earth smples were gathered at random from open areas, including one of beach S-.”;3r.ko”xztho high tide mrk. The party was led straight across the island and back to the lmding area via the beach, in order to verify its urhhabited state. fiaplc9 wore LT
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Sumcr: Report on Soil md W2tcr Sampling Mission Lcollected at approtitc v 12C0 M, 6 Mmch 1954. Instrument readings with the P’ higher scale showed a lower reading. %rch 1954, and slowly moved to an nnchoragc off Ailuk IsL~nd, the most heavily populatcd. The lagocm has not been swept, and numerous coral heads and pinnacles provided considerabb hazard to ship nmvem?nt. The landing @rty moved a shcxwcby whaleboat withoutclifficulty, and ag~in obtained water samples from the most prorni cnt cistern and soil smplcs from random unsheltered spots. Readings with the MX-- reading of 7 mr~r, howvor, on a different scale a reading of L2 or 15 mr/’hrwas ;wxc dctcctcd on bare feet or clothing of individuals- Samples and readings were taken at approximately 1700 h!,6 Wrch 1954. d. MEJIT Island. This single coral island is also surrounded by a recfj ~s is JEMO, but landing MS possible with a whaleboat, due to an area protcctcd fx the surf. The island was found to be heavily populated in view of its sizesoil+--:~ watcr samples were taken as in the previously described ranncr, at ~.pproxiGnt~Y @ 13W M, 7 March 1954. Rcadiqs with the MY-5 showed maxinmm of approxixatcly 3 .ar/hr(off the 2 scale, but approxim.toly 1.5 on the 20 scale); the m?’lm rc?.~ .~/PDR 27 E instruments all showed widely variant readings on different scales, and varied amng each other when exposed to the s?..mradiaticm$ ti lJ;/?DBT1-B prov~d completely tlsclcssnot holding to zero even after an hours war~up, and ~lsc showing widely variant recadingscm diffsrcnt sc,alcs. :0 pcrscnncl and equipuent. This will pcrnit E.ntig dirsctly on live coral reef !~ithless &nger of the boat being stove W.. Ships assigned to such missions should draw such equipmmt prior to departure. 4. The successful accomplishment of the mission Ms greatly facilitated by the interest and enthusiasm of the Commanding Officer of the USS RT2~SH.”,W,CDR L. F .“,lford,USN; and his officers and men. Their material contritutic.nsw:rc ncccssar problems proved invaluable.
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1. b compll-anccwith your oral instructions, the undersigned visited Votj 1954 for the purpsc of obtaining earth and drirddng vatcr samples, and af mcasu’ tig gamm ray dose rates, and also chcckcd the radiological condition of the S.S 2. The f~st four atolls were visited by Marshal.lcscintcrprctcr T~kushi and tlw writer by mans of an UF-1 amphibious aircrafto ILajuroms rcachcd by of tk Wotjo tribe which goes there only occasionally to gather copra. (This wa: unknown until after tho visit.) 3. At each atoll, only the principal inhabited island was visited. At each visitcd isk=md an effort was made to cogsc a rcprcscntativc soil average by collecting tito a Angle container several samples, each apprd-mtcly onc square foot of area and one inch depth. Water samplos were collcctcd from the principal sources currently in use. The gamma dosq rates arc averages for the inhab~cd 4. With regard to certain minor discrepmcies between the survey methods w jotitly, and when it bccamo advisable to separate and survey different atolls, no time remained for discussion of details of techniques. 5. Gacma-miy dose rates on Wotjc ?nd on Erikub arc each the average of M-: tiopcrativc when the rubber lifc raft was swamped by surf on the first attm@ tc a tenqwrature-dcpcndcnt reading of 0.4 - 2 mr/hr, so that Liter rmdings hi this range arc of very dubious rcWbiMty. tabulation surrrriarizcsthe atoll survey. S is soil, W is ants, no water supply found.
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Guam, left Eboyo TIME SAMPLE NO Well water (no rain in catch basin for 2 MO.) 0.5 mr~, 4 from rmar Admix Is.) 163cM M 7 March. .Rcadhgs (mr~) after docldng: 2-3 insido main dock stru cmvas. Prior mtiztion lcwels c‘m.ct be cstdmatod becc.uscof rr.inuqu~.lls and u certainty abcut when decks last washed. l.tst.erWCS aitiscd ho YC.VS.decks y shed? dom as socm as ccnveriient. He was told that the ~,ctidty ‘aul$ rx$ l:urta$-jm=~, but thnt ~t was Undesfiable to have it aromd longer than necessar;-. i 8. RECCl~@liDATICNS: Future visits to Erikub and Malcdap should not be attcnptcd by UP-1 oxocpt under ccnditions of greater urg.ncy. The writcrls prier cxpaicncc h such operations is very United, but from t,isow obscrvaticms plu: the rmark-s mdc by thoso better qualified to judge, it appears that a fair &-@u of risk is tivolvcd. 9. Especially notable was the vmy cooperative attitude of the l~avypx scr~ porting this mission.
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Earth saqlcs wore collected as follows: . At each island visited several samples wcro dug and put tito the - square foot to a depth of qnc inch. fic nticr and locations of the samples WI sclectcd to rcprcscnt, as well.as could be judged} an average of the areas used r by tho inhabitants, after the samples were mixed in the carton. Areas that were unusually shaded or unshaded by trees were avoided. ~c brgo ‘pebblcst~in the Water samples were sclectcd accordhg h the princi~l source in current us
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Radiobgical survey of Dormind Mm&! Contaminated by BRAVO The members of the sumcy team wish to express thcf.rapprccfatiti to &. officers and members of the crow of tho USS NICHOIJS (Dm 449) for .thcf assistancc and coo~ration in conducting tho survey herein rcportcds captalrl mot turned over all possiblo facfltics of his ship h order to assist in tt. Survcy. LT Frink, the Executive Officcr, organized alL the o~rat ions of tho beat parties, and it ms only through his pcrsanal direction and participation that it was possiblo to carry out the small boat survcyg under cxtrcm~ difficu conditions. Since most of the lagoon ~tcrs were not navigable by a uDE, it was ncccssary to mkc @ tit trips in high seas and land m tricky coral rccfs~ That it was possible to make, without mishap, a detailed survey d five widely scpa.ratedatolds in the cowso of three days with only two boats wns largely duc to his efforts. . The ERAVO Shot ccmtaminatcd a number of atolls h g~rally castw.ard dtiction from Bikini to such an extent tl-atit bccamc necessary to cv.cuatc the native populations from hgclap, :~tigirme and Utirik }~tollsand the milltary subjcct detailed radiological survey of the atolls to the castwrwd of Bill a. The =valuation of the radiation effects on cvacuccs. c. The cstimticn of the residual radiation cffccts of lErgc yields h comcction uith this survey, tca.msfrcm vartius Task Grcups and l%. cvacuatcd habitations, qervicc military cquipncnt, and obtain docun:.ntary Phote
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lSOO Two parties in srmll boats survcyod Mving areas on Rongclap Island and castorn half of Rongclap Atoll. ~30 Two parties in smll boats pocccdcd from the XX which w.s stationed outside Utirik Atoll.and surveyed U$irik and Aon Islandst the mati islands of the Atoni 1700 Onc prty h a smQl boat Iandod on tha outer reef of Bikar Islmd and surveyed the iskmd, the only which was stationod outside Rongcrik Atoll and survcz Miwctak Islmd (whcro the Task Forccls Units had bcr. stationed) and the other hportant islands of the i.t:1 19.0 TWO partice in SCE-.llboats procccdcd from the BP whkh was stationcd outside }J@#nao Atoll and survc; the tibitcd islands of tho Atou. 1400 Onc party lm a ESM1l boat surveyed the northwes+ the living areas on Rongclap Ishnd and csti.b~shcd a rcfcrcncc locaticn for future decay mca=rc@nts l members of the survey team: team arrived Eniwctok from test projects in Jtoll ti DDE. Rink, Exocutivc Officer, for surveys. conduct f the survey. b Mvo (5) each of AN/PDR-39 wcro calibrated ~th an 80 Curie Co source twenty-four hours before dcparturo~ The A ibration yielded zero variation bctwccn instrummts - any scale. Up cross chcck~~ngt.hrccof these instrummts, (a point of actual survey) in a radiatbn fiC~ of Ocjm r~ it was found that all three imtrumcnts gave the w r=ding. Thcsc survey meters were subject to prolcmgcd usc under adverse conditions of darqmcss (to the point of sca water splatikg ov~r thcn)~ salt deposit and centinual rough handing. ‘1’;ithcoo cxccption, all tistruumts operated cfficimtly for tic durat~ of the o~ration. On the fhal day it me found /
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SUBJEZT: Radio. &icnl Survey of thit onc survey fnctorcould not bo properly zero mtminatcd by BRAVO adjusted, TM four rmdning to bo in good worldng ordor. @c (1) each Bockrm U-5, and one (1) each AN/F’lXl-27Awas brought alon for any low titcnsity checks nacssary. Two (2) each @ibratcd AN~%~} wcx~ None of thesc instrmmts wcro roquircd. 6. The avoragc and mxinxm gamma doso ~tos ccasurcd on tho various inland of each atoll arc pldtcd in Figures 1 through 5. All moasurcmnts were mdc at r waist height unless otherwise indicatcd~ Tlw mximum rcadi~~s do not ficludo masurcmcnts rradcwith tho instrument next to a cent-tcd surfaco~ Detailed surveys were made of all the inhabited loc?Xtic9. Typical readings arc given in Tables 1 and 2 for the nativo villago of Rongcli-pI.ikd, and the m 7*4 caQP on ~fictak Is~d. In general, tho villages and the camps apparcd tc have slightly lower avcrago C!OSCrates than the remainder of tho island. This can Frhaps bc ascribed b different gccmctry of the contamination and to slightly greater ~nctratim into the l.oosogravel h tho nativo vilkg~s Tho desc rates inside the nativo huts appeared to bo almost the sane a.stho dose rate outside. The dose rate in the middlo of tho -tary barracks, t~nts, an? cffcct. The dose rate fcll off rapidly on tho beach below the high ti .C~rks Thcro aas no ctidcncc of rain washing off the contaminated natcrial. ~hc fo~~f. ‘ on the %indward sides of the islands app=md to bc slightly abvc average conNear central cistern ?: Outside Ibse Inside Toso
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Weather Staticm (N end of island) 230 1-1o In order to est~tc the rate of decay between 6 and 11 l.krch,the ing radktion measurements were taken on three days on Rongclap IsLwd~ lm area was selected 30 yards inhnd f rcxnthe Rongclap ccnctcry a 8 Water sa@es were collected froa the wtcr supplies of all inhabited areas. About two ~rts of water were transferred to a polycthlonc bottle at each site, These will be turned OVCr to the New York Opereticns Office, AEC fc Soil samples were collcctcd at all tibitcd areas and also at sever: ? t uninhabited islands. h collecting tho soil saQplcs a onc foot by onc foot square was mrbd on the ground and soil to about one inch of depth was rermvcd fron the square and transferred to a cardtoard contaticr. The prim y ~Plcs will bc turned over to the New York Owration Office, ECC, for ardysis~ pmd Listed in Table 3 arc the sanphs ta!ariwith the dose rate at waist height at the location where th~y wrc taken. 3 Rongelap Rongelap (1 mile north of 4 Rongelap Rongelap (naar South cistern lo Rongerik lkiwetak 10 lh.r
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5 Utirik Uttiik (cistern nar church) 6 Utirik Utirik (cistern at south of In addition to the above, a saople of foilagc was ward side of Bikar Island, The radL?tion field was MO mr/’h.ron 9 !!aroh195. at this petit. 8. Conclusims and Recomendaticas it. T& rad.iologica~suqvey proved that a large yield surface deton tion can produce extremely serious”radiolx@cal m ntamb.ation over a dist.anc b. The center of the aontadmticn pattern from the W.VO Shot Iic smewhat north of Rongelap and Rcmgerik :it~llsand probably not fm fron a 1 between Bikini and Bikar. c. tdthough the fall-out was serbus cn Rongehp Island lccated at the extreme southeast tip of the atoll, the ccntamhation was abut ten ttirt greater at the north side of the atoll, twenty miles away. d, The ccmtaminaticm decreased by a factor of shout eight over the proteetion to perscmnel tiside. ficld survey work under r@oN”us enmiroru+tal c onditkls, factory method of conducting a broad radiological sur~y of the type fi~ completed. Future surveys should consider using vessels ca~bk cf cnterfig more of the atolls and of handling a helicopter and several .srnlltits. 3. Rad. Survey Bikar Technical tictor 4. Rad. Survey Rongerik AFsllP 5. Rad. Survey Ailinginae
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