RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL
112
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A summaryof actual expenditures incurred during the project
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The Deputy Secretary of Defense also requested that the Chairman. JCS
have the military departments designate, at the earliest practicable date
the military support units to be deployedfor this project, in order to permit
the initiation of detailed operational! planning.233 The Joint Staff decided
however, to wait untii CONPLAN 1-76 had been revised to reflect all
changes in the concept before formally tasking the Military Services. The
The JCS and the Director, DNA had advised against having the Services
furnish materiel and transportation support without reimbursement on the
After reviewing the 2 July 1976 CONPLAN, the Joint Staff
recommended that it be modified to include helicopters for medical
Joint staff did not task the Services until 24 January 1977.234
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basis that it would detract from the Services’ other missions.*2? The 2 July
1976 edition of CONPLAN 1-76 reflected this position and included funds
were received from CINCPAC23¢ and the Air Force Surgeon General 237
also included $2.9 million (ERDA’s latest estimate) to reimburse ERDA
Appropriations Act, CONPLAN I-76 was revised as of 15 September
1976.238 Several annexes were added to conform to the JCS Operations
for radiological support based on the 7 September 1972 conference
agreement.230 This plan was reviewed by DNA officials at Headquarters
and Field Command on 2 August 1976 to identify means of reducing costs
to the $20 million which had been appropriated. One obviousaction wasto
limit the reimbursement of ERDA to the $1.5 million which had been
ERDA’soriginal estimate and which had been contained in the original
DNA budget request for radiological support. Other possible reductions of
MILCON costs also were discussed; however, it was agreed that no further
changes to the CONPLAN would be made until JCS comments were
received on the 2 July 1976 version which had been distributed by the Joint
Staff to the Services and the CINCPAC.23! The Chairman of the JCS,
General George S. Brown, USAF, wasbriefed on the CONPLAN during a
visit to Field Command that autumn.
In forwarding the 2 July 1976 CONPLAN, DNA had requested that the
Military Services be assigned formal responsibility for supporting the
cleanupproject and that supporting Service elements be designated so that
detailed planning could begin immediately, with the objective of starting
cleanup operations on 1 March 1977.232 On 10 September 1976, the Deputy
Secretary of Defense requested the Chairman, JCS, to inform the Military
Departments of the requirement to accomplish this project under the
conditions imposed by the Congress and the need to provide support to
this project, including but not limited to:
a. Full and effective troop support.
b. Maximum feasible use of PCS rather than TDY to conserve project
hs im
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FIELD COMMAND CONCEPTPLAN 1-76:
15 SEPTEMBER 1976
to reimburse the Services in its estimated total cost of $24.33! million. It
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Planning and Programming
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MILCON appropriation and to keep the total project cost down.
c. Provision of supplies, equipment, including repair parts, and
transportation available Service-wide required for timely accomplishment of the project.
evacuation and an annex on communications support.235 Comments also
Based on these comments and on the provisions of the FY 1977 MILCON
Plan format. This CONPLAN was resubmitted to the JCS, who approved
it with a few final refinements. These refinements were incorporated as
Change Number! on ! February 1977. The final CONPLAN I-76 contained
all the basic policy and concepts and most of the procedures required to
execute the project in accordance with the will of Congress and the
direction of the Secretary of Defense and the JCS,239
THE MISSION: SEPTEMBER 1976
The mission, as authorized by Congress240 and approved by the JCS,24!
was to conduct a full Case 3 EIS cleanup; i.e.:
a. Physical hazards will be removed from all islands.
b. Obstructions to development of habitations and agriculture will be
removed.
c. Unsalvable nonradioactive material will be disposed of in accordance
with appropriate procedures.
d. Boken, Lujor, and Runit plutonium concentrations greater than 400
pCi/g will be excised, and all other concentrations between 400 and
40 pCi/g will be dealt with on an individual basis (seven islands are in
this range). Concentrations of less than 40 pCi/g will not be
disturbed. Cleanup of plutonium is expected to be performed
iteratively until a sufficiently low concentration level is attained.
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f° Radioactive scrap will be removed from all islands in
(Radioactive scrap has been identified on nine islands.)
the Atoll.
g. Radioactive materials will be disposed of by crater containment on
unit.