A field study was conducted in 1977 on 238, 239Pu and 137Cs availability to zucchini squash (Curcurbita melopepo, hybrid seneca) and green bush beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, Landreths stringless) grown under home‐garden conditions in an area at Los Alamos National Laboratory used for treated radioactive liquid waste disposal. Radionuclide concentrations were measured as a function of tissue type, height above the soil, fertilization regime, and for the squash, food‐cleansing procedures. Analysis of variance procedures were used to analyze the data.Ratios of the concentration of a radionuclide in oven‐dried vegetation to dry soil ranged from 0.0004 to 0.116 for the Pu isotopes, and from 0.051 to 0.255 for 137Cs. Fertilization with cattle manure reduced the Pu concentration ratios by 30% and 137Cs by 50%. Vegetative parts sampled within 20 cm of the ground surface were contaminated about four times as much as those parts growing further from the ground surface. About 65% of the contamination was removed by washing, indicating the presence of surficial contamination. The 50‐year radiation dose commitment to humans consuming vegetables from the garden plot would be less than 0.05 mrem and would be due almost entirely to 137Cs.

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This series of reports results from a program initiated in 1974 by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for determination of the condition of sites formerly utilized by the Manhattan Engineer District (MED) and the AEC for work involving the handling of radioactive materials. Since the early 1940's, the control of over 100 sites that were no longer required for nuclear programs has been returned to private industry or the public for unrestricted use. A searah of MED and AEC records indicated that for some of these sites, documentation was insufficient to determine whether or not the decontamination work done at the time nuclear activities ceased is adequate by current guidelines. This report contains data and information on the methods used in excavation, decontamination and removal of contaminated underground waste lines utilized during the Manhattan Project and early work done by the AEC. This report documents the location of the remaining portions of this industrial waste line so that any future excavation of these current inaccessible areas can be conducted without undue concern.