became largely those of the movement of ships rather than large groups of people. Water con. tamination in the anchorage, which would have posed a very real problem to the operation, was never serious, and the fleet was able to reenter the lagoon soon after each shot. Upon the arrival of the L&D, USS Belle Grove, the M boats which she carried in the well were released and began the transfer of people between vessels by regular taxi service, M _¥ wn 0D me OS — co wm A et oe boats and LCU’s moored in the anchorage during the shot suffered fall-out from at least two of the shots and required decontamination prior to their use. These boats were needed for the bulk of the work that went on between events, carrying workers, fuel, and equipment into the instrumented islands. The movement of people within the atoll] was closely coordinated with the Rad-Safe Contro} Officer at all times during the operation. Boat and helicopter traffic into contaminated regions was required to clear through the Rad-Safe organization for protective clothing, film badges, and monitoring equipment when necessary. By monitoring the radiation levels throughout the atoll, the Rad-Safe Control Officer could redefine the limits of restricted areas and clear them for traffic as radioactive decay and water dispersion reduced the contamination to safe levels. The employment of the “houseboat” LCU’s with expanded living quarters by Programa 13 and 15 proved to be exceptionally fortunate. Since trailers and equipment were aboard as well, these groups were able to rework their stations after each shot with a minimum of the support which would otherwise have been required. ain camp islands, Eninman and Enyu, contaminated by rather heavy fall-out from eentered two days afterthe shot for the purpose of recovering equipment and supplies and to prepare the UCRL and DODinstallations for This work went ahead without further delay since the fall-out problem was not encountered to any great degree from subsequent shots. Eninman airstrip, which was out of commission for eight ys placed back in use when the radiation levels permitted working parties to Clear away the debris. During this time PBM Mmited airlift between Eniwetok and Bikini. The wave a the airstrip out of commission, but tt was cleared and back in use within three days after the event. iwetok Atoll the reentry problem never arose since the lower islands were not evacuncIs into the upper islands of the atoll was limited to the recovery of data and equipmen' 7 3.12 oe aircraft provided a SAMPLE RETURNS Prior to the overseas phase of Castle, a study of the transportation requirements for de- livery of radioactive samples to ZI laboratories was submitted to JTF SEVEN. Asa result of this study and subsequent discussions, the following flight schedule for the return of samples was established: Flyaway Flyaway Flyaway Flyaway 1, 2, 3, 4, H+6 to 10 hr H+6 to 10 br H+24 to 36 hr +4 to 5 days In addition to these flights, which were to be made after each shot, provisions were made for the transport of samples by first priority MATS flight when necessary. During the course of the operation this service was utilized to return Project 21.4 gas samples, with a departure time of about H+48 hr, which Flyaway 3 could not meet because of other requirements. The Flyaway aircraft generally followed the planned schedule with average departure times of H+8 hr for the first two, H+36 hr for the third, and H+5 days for the last. Flyaways 1 and 2 were C-97 aircraft, capable under normal wind conditions of arriving at Albuquerque within 20 hr from take-off, including a 10- to 20-min stop at Hickam Air Force Base. Flyaways 3 and 4 were generally the slower C-54 aircraft. The J-3 and J-4 Staff Sections of TG 7.1, through their representatives on Eniwetok, re- ceived the radioactive samples from the projects, made sure that they were properly packaged, 50 a BEST AVAILABLE COFY TT “ - _