Radionuclides in sediments and seawater at Rongelap Atoll

Mapping of environmental conditions in coastal areas on Bangka Island

“…Natural radionuclides are widely used to study processes in the coastal environment, including: determining sedimentation rates, mixing processes and sediment accumulation [5]. Radionuclides in sediments do not contribute directly to human exposure, but these radionuclides can be accumulated by various marine biota that are widely consumed by humans [6]. Natural radionuclides can be found in river sediments as a result of leaching of fertilizers and industrial materials as well as particulate sedimentation from land clearing and mining.…”

“…Natural radionuclides are widely used to study processes in the coastal environment, including: determining sedimentation rates, mixing processes and sediment accumulation IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1108/1/012076 2 [5]. Radionuclides in sediments do not contribute directly to humans, but these radionuclides can be accumulated by various marine biota that are widely consumed by humans [6].…”

Chapter Four Legacies and Perils from the Perspective of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal

“…Although mainly gross activity of particles of other than man-made radionuclides were identifi ed, it is assumed that more sensitive techniques would more than likely have shown the presence of man-made radionuclides. 2 Th e radionuclides Am 241 , Eu 155 , Cs 137 and Sr 90 have been found in the surface sediments in the Rongelap lagoon. 3 While the radionuclides in the lagoon normally would not place people at risk for radiation exposure, their entry into the human food chain through consumption of marine life and transfer to land through soil replacement could potentially cause adverse human eff ects.…”

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Measurements of Plutonium in Sediment and Seawater from the Marshall Islands

“…The shape of the Rongelap Atoll that is made up of islands and reefs are displayed in the diagrams. The Atoll is drawn on free hand with figure 1 on page 10 in Noshkin et al 1998, as a model. It shall by no means be seen as a detailed geographical map, but instead as a rough sketch showing the approximate shape of the atoll.…”

“…This survey and the result for the samples collected here are described in Noshkin et al, 1998 Pu activity ratio, 0.67 ± 0.11, is in agreement with the mean ratio from 19 samples collected in Bikini in 1979, 0.69± 0.17 (Noshkin et al 1997a In 44 cores of mean depth 18 ± 6 cm, collected over the years at the Bikini and the Enewetak Atoll, inventories of different radionuclides in the surface sediment (0 -2 cm) as well as to the total core depth (10 to 30 cm) has been determined in Robison et al, 1997. All radionuclides were well mixed to a depth of 9 cm and below about 10 cm the concentrations decreased with depth.…”