Determination of Transuranium Elements in a So-called “Bikini Ash” Sample and in Marine Sediment Samples Collected Near Bikini Atoll
- 1 August 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Health Physics
- Vol. 35 (2) , 301-307
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-197808000-00013
Abstract
The concentrations of 239,240Pu and 241Am in the debris from the second thermonuclear test detonation of the USA (Bravo) were determined. This debris, called “Bikini Ash”, was collected in 1954 on the deck of the Japanese fisherboat “5th Fukuryu-Maru” which was located some 150 km to the east of Bikini Atoll at the time of the thermonuclear test. A portion of the 1954 sample was subjected to analytical analysis in 1974. Accordingly, the concentrations of 239+240Pu and 241Am in the sample were determined to be 25.9±1.7 and 12.9±0.9 dis/min/mg, respectively. From these values, the ratio of 241Pu/239+240Pu at time zero was calculated to be 26±3, and this ratio was almost the same as the “Mike” thermonuclear debris. Furthermore, 239+240Pu and 241Am contents of the marine sediment samples collected near Bikini Atoll were also analyzed, and it was found that a significant contamination with these nuclides was found to be still remaining in this area.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: