From 1958 until 1976 DoD retained custody of the atoll, and a small caretaker
force remained on Enewetak Island in the south. The atoll was occasionally used
for DoD programs not involving nuclear testing. Ouring this period, in 1972, the
U.S. Government decided that future national requirements in this part of the
world could be met without use of Enewetak; and Ambassador Franklin Haydn
Williams announced that the atoll would be returned to the TTPI Government, for
subsequent return to the people--who by this time had not seen their homeland for
25 years. The announcement also committed the U.S. Government to cleanup and
rehabilitation of Enewetak.
Planning for the radiological cleanup and rehabilitation programs was intensive and complex. It extended from {972 until 1977, and involved major actions by
numerous departments and agencies in the Executive Branch, by the Congress, and
by the People of Enewetak.
The hallmark of the entire effort was total
involvement by the People of Enewetak in all major decisions.
The major milestones of the planning effort--each of which required many
months or even years of work--were: conduct of a detailed radiological survey of
the atoll, its islands, and the lagoon by the AEC; conduct of a comprehensive
engineering survey of the structures and debris on the atoll by the Defense Nuclear
Agency (DNA); preliminary planning of resettlement options with the People of
Enewetak; development and study of cleanup options, and selection of a preferred
course of action, by an AEC Task Group; assignment of responsibilities to
Executive Branch Departments, as follows: AEC for radiological characterization,
DoD for radiological cleanup and operational support, and Department of the
Interior (Dol) for rehabilitation and resettlement; development of a detailed Master
Plan for rehabilitation and resettlement by the People of Enewetak, assisted by
Dol, DoD, and AEC; development, issuance, and resulting action on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); development of disposal/containment options for
radioactive soil and debris, and selection or a preferred plan; presentation of issues
to the Congress, and ultimate Congressional
authorization and appropriation;
development by DNA of a Concept Plan (CONPLAN) governing the cleanup, and its
approval by the Joint Chiefs of Staff; assignment of individual responsibilities to
Army, Navy, and Air Force; and development by DNA of a detailed Operation Plan
(OPLAN) governing all facets of the cleanup operation.
At an early juncture in this planning process the Defense Nuclear Agency was
designated the DoD Project Manager for the Enewetak operation.
A key decision in this process was that operations would be concurrent rather
than sequential.
The normal, conservative approach would have been to conduct
the operation in three sequential phases: first, the detailed on-site radiological
characterization by AEC (Dek); second, the cleanup by DoD, based upon the
radiological characterization developed in the first phase; and third, the rehabilita-
tion (homebuilding, crop planting, etc.) and resettlement by Dol, once the DoD
cleanup had been completed. To save time and money, the planners decided on a
much riskier concurrent approach, in which all three phases would be carried out
simultaneously. Because support costs are a dominant portion of overall expense,