[en] An artificial rumen and simulated abomasal and intestinal fluids procedure was used to study the alimentary availability of plutonium-238. When plutonium-238 was administered as plutonium nitrate, 10.1% remained soluble following the artificial rumen incubation period and 15.3% following the abomasal period; 30.1% and 32.7% remained soluble when the fluid was held at pH 4 and 5, respectively, during the duodenal phase. The solubility increased to 60.1% following the addition of bile and enzymes with adjustment of the pH to 6 to simulate the jejunum. The increase in plutonium solubility in the simulated jejunal fluid was found to be due to the presence of bile. Plutonium administered as a citrate-buffered plutonium solution was 9.0% soluble following the rumen incubation period, 13.1% following the abomasal period, and 22.5% and 24.8% when held at pH 4 and 5, respectively, in the duodenal phase. The solubility increased to 59.6% following the addition of bile and enzymes with adjustment of the pH to 6. Plutonium administered as 0.06-μm plutonium dioxide spheres was 1.5% soluble following the rumen incubation period, 2.3% following the abomasal period, and 3.6% and 3.9% when held at pH 4 and 5, respectively, in the duodenal phase. Solubility increased to 7.4% following the addition of bile and enzymes with adjustment of the pH to 6. Rumen contents of cattle grazing on plutonium-contaminated desert vegetation at the Nevada Test Site, Area 13, were collected quarterly and incubated in simulated bovine gastrointestinal fluids to study the alimentary availability of field-deposited plutonium-238, plutonium-239, and americium-241. Results to date indicate that the highest concentrations of plutonium and americium in the rumen contents occurred during the late summer or fall