After the meeting with the Commissioners the committee returned to its
briefing session with DBM staff.
Dr. Wood reviewed the status of instrument
development to evaluate radiation levels in the uranium mines.
There
have been problems with all the personnel dosimeters.
The instant working
levet meters on the other hand appear very promising.
Dr. Barr reported
on the activities of the various sub-groups which report to the Federal

Radiation Council concerning a recommended working level value for uranium

miners.

Dr. Bruner and Mr. McCraw reported on the status of the residential
surveys in Grand Junction, Colorado.
As background, Dr. Bruner pointed out
that in Grand Junction there are two million tons of tailings concentrated

on 55 acres.

In the past local contractors have used these tailings as

backfill around houses and as a subsurface in concrete construction.
The
uranium tailings contain, of course, radium and radon in relatively high
concentrations.
The Colorado state public health officer has asked the
AEC for help in surveying the homes and in recommending actions to be
taken.
He has also asked the Public Health Service and the AEC for
financial support.
At the present time approximately 1,000 of 4,000 homes
suspected to have increased radiation levels have been screened.
Of these,
about 25% are high enough to warrant a thorough survey.
Ultimately there
may be 300-400 houses needing some sort of remedial action to decrease the

radiation levels.

Mr. McCraw then showed a moving picture of the current status of the
resettlement of Bikini.
The work appears to be progressing well but it
still requires considerable time.
At this point the committee recessed until the following day.

The committee reconvened at 8:30 A.M. on September 12 at the "H" St.

Office.
The first order of business was the approval of the minutes of
the 134th meeting.
The next meeting of the Committee will be November 13-14
in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The January meeting will be held the 8th and
9th in Washington and the spring meeting, if held, will be the 12th and 13th
of March.
The meeting after that will be the 14th and 15th of May 1971.
Dr. Totter announced that Dr. Wolfe, having returned from a sabbatical,
will be attached directly to his (Dr. Totter's) office.
Dr. Osterberg has
been appointed Chief of the Environmental Sciences Branch,
At a previous meeting Dr. Conard indicated the difficulty in insuring
that the natives of Rongelap would take their prescribed medication.
Dr. Totter reported that the Trust Territory will assign a nurse fulltime
to Rongelap to help with this problem.
He also reported that a staff
paper will be initiated to see if it is possible to pay some small amount
to the Utirik natives to insure their continued cooperation in the study
of the effects of radioactive fallout.

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