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

Robison, W L ; Noshkin, V E ; Hamilton, T F ; Conrado, C L ; Bogen, K T

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

关键词: Uranium;    Testing;    Rhodium;    Americium 241;    Thallium;   

DOI  :  10.2172/15013358
RP-ID  :  UCRL-LR-143980
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-48
RP-ID  :  15013358

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

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 test 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.