Using a multiphase transport model, we study the relative importance of J/p
si suppression mechanisms due to plasma screening, gluon scattering, and ha
dron absorption in heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Colli
der. We find that for collisions between heavy nuclei such as Au+Au, both p
lasma screening and gluon scattering are important. As a result, the effect
due to absorption by hadrons becomes relatively minor. The final J/psi sur
vival probability in these collisions is only a few percent. In the case of
collisions between light nuclei such as S+S, the effect of plasma screenin
g is, however, negligible in spite of the initial high parton density. The
final J/psi survival probability thus remains appreciable after comparable
absorption effects due to gluons and hadrons.