[en] Progress from February 1978 through January 1979 on the measurement of radionuclides in the Columbia River and its estuary, with principal emphasis on plutonium isotopes is reported. The goal is to budget the inventory of transuranic radionuclides in the Columbia River system below the Hanford Complex and to estimate the amounts of Pu and Am being carried to the Northeast Pacific Ocean by the river. The results to date have led to conclusions of some importance to the Department of Energy. These are as follows: (1) previously published data on the concentrations of plutonium in McNary reservoir are incorrect. The reported analyses show Pu concentrations significantly lower than those reported by Battelle; (2) sedimentation rates in McNary reservoir do not appear to be as high as those estimated by previous workers. Using Pu and ¹³⁷Cs subsurface maxima and ^238239240Pu ratios, it is concluded that the sedimentation rates in the lower portion of McNary reservoir near the Oregon shore are between 4 and 5 cm/yr and decrease dramatically as the Washington shore is approached. Sedimentation rates at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River and at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia are about 2 cm/yr; (3) in the Columbia River estuary where fine sediments are accumulating at a rate of about 3 to 4 cm/yr, plutonium does not appear to be migrating from depth toward the surface.; (4) evidence suggests that the contribution of the eight plutonium production reactors to the integrated plutonium inventory of Columbia River sediments is small; (5) a surprising fraction of the plutonium in Columbia River water is not retained by 0.3μ millipore filters; and (6) in certain regions Columbia River sediments contain rather high mean plutonium loads (mCi/km²). Each of these topics is discussed as well as the results of participation in both national and international quality control and intercalibration exercises