The United States conducted 66 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands. Twenty-two years later the authorities continue to disagree on when the islands will be safe for resettlement. AOE b GiFF JOHNSON Paradise lost The U.S. government is now attempting to prove at Enewetak what it couldn’t at Bikini: that it is possible for people to return safely to an area devastated by nuclear weapons. Following completion of a three-year, $100 million nuclear cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands—site of 43 nuclear tests—the United States says it is safe for the people who were moved out to return to certain islands. But while the cleanup has been hailed in some quarters as a ‘“‘remarkable success,”’ at Bikini and Enewetak. Edward Martell, of the National Center for ers do not substantiate its claims. Micronesian Legal Services, a U.S. goverment organization representing the Enewetak people, expressed concern overthe clusive television interview. in “highly questionable recom- contaminated islands. He said “the tires and underside of the vehicles were usually covered with dust and dirt,’ but the workers were given no respirators for protection.° whether or not people should return assembled by the Atomic Energy controversy is developing over to any part of the atoll. The Marshall Islands are pan of a U.N. “‘strategic’’ Trust Ternitory of the Pacific. which has been administered by the United States since World War I]. The nuclear weapons testing program ended in 1958, after 12 years of 66 atmo- sphenic tests. The Defense Nuclear Agency, coordinator of the cleanup, has said it would be impossible to lower atoll radiation to pre-test levels. But the cleanup guidelines called for residence islands to be cleaned to a level of 40 picocunes of plutonium 239/240 per gram of soil. agriculture islands to 80 picocuries per gram and food gathering islands to 160. To ac- compiish this, thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil were scraped off the small islands, mixed with cement and encased in a massive concrete dome in an atomic bomb crater at Runit Island. The basis for the cleanup was Strongly questioned in 1974 by a researcher who had been involved in the 1950s weapons testing program 24 Atmospheric Research. wniting to mendations regarding acceptable levels of plutonium in the soils and the very doubtful merits of pro- ceeding with the resettlement of Enewetak Atoll on the basis of the recommendations of a Task Group Commission and the Department of Defense. . . . The recommendation that plutonium soils, with levels not exceeding 40 pCi of plutonium 240/ 241 per gram of soil averaged over 15 cm depth, ts suitable for human habitation, can be very senously questioned. .. . The resettlement of such sites is extremely likely to have tragic consequences, particularly for the younger membersof the inhabitants. Progressively worse con- sequences are to be expected for each successive generation in the affected population group.”"! One of many reports from Enewetak was publicized in an ex- which a mechanic stated that he and others had worked without protect- ive gear underneath dozens of trucks returning from the plutonium— Press visitors to Enewetak in Apmil 1980 noticed similar flaws in Defense Nuclear Agency safety standards. **Standing on any part of Runit Island,’ said a reporter. “‘you must wear rubber boots and a paper re- Spirator to prevent breathing plutonium particles. But standing on the concrete dome (a mere [5 feet away) you are not required to wear any protective clothing at all. °"* Runit Island will be quarantined to the Marshallese forever, because of high concentrations of plutonium in the soil. More than 100.000 cubic yards of radioactive soil and débns have been encased in a massive cement dome on Runit, to isolate these mendations were ignored and the hazardous matenals from the environment for thousands of years. Nevertheless. islands within three safety standards. as safe for “picnics and food Martell’s questions and recom—vO - cleanup itself was plagued by shoddy miles of Runit have been designated The Defense Nuclear Agency gathering." This prompted a Mar- tions was the radiological] safety of the individuals involved in the operations.”"? But Agency policies have been inconsistent. and information turtles and other animals that land on maintained that “‘the most important consideration in the cleanup opera- supplied by soldiers involved in the cleanup and by independent repon- shallese observer to comment: **What will happen if birds, crabs. the off limits island are eaten by the people?” Despite this atmosphere of in- consistent safety measures. many of the 450 Enewetak peopie have