Geiger Counters
p. 121 · Read in the full issue
Fishery Officers With
They are now testing the Cook Islands fish for radio-activity.
Mr. Ronald Powell, Fisheries Officer for the Cook Islands, and loaba Marsters, his assistant, were flown from Rarotonga to Christmas Island on November 1 and underwent a short course there on elementary physics and the use of the geiger counter. They then flew to Penrhyn where they spent almost a month collecting various specimens of reef fish and seabirds which were preserved and tested for signs of radio activity.
Air samples at Penrhyn were also taken, and three employees of the Meteorological Department, stationed at Penrhyn, were trained to carry out tests for radio activity. The data obtained will be forwarded to the Health Physics Department at Christmas Island at regular intervals, and similar checks for radio activity will be made at Rarotonga.
Powell and Marsters returned to Rarotonga at end of November, taking their geiger counter with them. —