76 RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL Planning and Programming After consideration of comments on the drafts, the AEC Task Group 19 recommendations (discussed below) were published in final form on June 1974. At a meeting of the Commissioners of the AEC on 12 August 1974, the recommendations were approved and subsequently forwarded to DNA on 16 August 1974.59 The Director, DNA responded on 20 August 1974, advising the AEC that the recommendations had been adopted and : would be reflected in the DEIS.®! Ree or Bikini Atoll. eee concern that numerical standards provided for Enewetak would be misconstrued or misapplied to other locations such as the Nevada Test Site me advise on plutonium cleanup operations.°? Others in AEC expressed for The Task Group Report pointed out that the tasks required and cleanup Bikini the for out Enewetak were similar to those carried rehabilitation,®2 andit stated that its recommendations for Enewetak were Bikini therefore similar to those that guided cleanup and rehabilitation of Atoll.63 for The Task Group Report adopted radiation protection criteria that ded evaluation of the significance of dose estimates, and it recommen the samecriteria be used for planning the cleanup and rehabilitation. The criteria for dose limit to individuals were set at 50 percent of the Federal Radiation Council (FRC) annualrate limit, and 80 percent of the FRC 30year genetic limit. These more stringent criteria were deemed appropriate recommended a living pattern which would not actually require a at other point out that any guidance it offered would not apply to the AEC e on guidanc ended recomm Report Group Task the locations. Thus, e guidanc was plutonium in soil that was unique to Enewetak Atoll. This ed 400 that soil should be removed if the plutonium concentration exceed wasless pCi/g of soil, and that it could be left in place if the concentration - oo -— practicable level.’’6 Group port calcio tO therefore considered Sot and the lask Re m a. Residence and agriculture (exc ept coconuts) : would be restrict | | southern islands. ate b, Coconuts could be grown on northeast islands for subsistence and commercial purposes. c. Fishing could be conducted anywhere. use or recommend these FRC criteria. Instead, the Task Group Report recommendedthat the population dose ‘“‘should be kept to the minimum spensionat Enewetak. The Task Group Report singled out the soil-resu not could experts which on one key a as inhalation pathway for plutonium was soil in ium pluton on ce Guidan properly. dose e w to estimat periods of time ranging from 5 to 70 years. Since the Task Group adopted annual rate criteria to evaluate estimates, additional calculations were made, and the results of these calculations were included in the Task Group Report. Additionally, doses were estimated for bone marrow rather than entire bone as had been done for the NVO-140 Report. The Task Group Report added the dose estimates in numerous wa st obtain total estimates for various living patterns. The living patterns Wy ° structured to include preferences expressed by the dri-Enewetak “In combining estimates to produce total dose, the Task Group Report tested the improvements gained by adding clean soil to contaminated soil by plowing contaminated soil, and by restricling the growing of certain cro S iheTask Group Report was not enthusiastic about these alternatives ‘or via the dietary removal pathway as a6depe pendable and feasible i method for reducing dose cleanup. Key features ofthis living pattern were that: uncertainty in predicting doses.64 Although the Task Group Report discussed the FRC annual rate limits for population as a whole, it did not ides for evaluating dose via these pathways, andfor all significant radionucl than 40 pCi/g. For concentrations in the range of 40-400 pCi/g, decisio should be made on a case-by-case basis, considering the potential is] ‘d use, the plutonium concentration near the ground surface, the potential for erosion, and the amount of effort involved in removing soil . The NVO-140 Report had presented integrated dose estimates for After . comparing dose estimates against adopted criteria. and considering the desires of the dri-Enewetak, the Task Group Re ort level of so that individuals would not receive doses at the maximum for current U.S. standards from weapon-test residue alone and to account al The Task Group Report noted that no criteria existed for radiologic pathways definite were contamination of soil and food and that there The whereby such contamination .could lead to dose to individuals. especially data ental environm Enewetak Radiological Survey had obtained 77 d. Any island except Runit could be visited. Minimum cleanup recommendations were offered to provide better assurance that the dose for the recommended living pattern would be minimized. These recommendations werethat: a, All radioactive scrap metal be removed. b. Contaminated debris in ‘‘burial sites’? be removed. c. Runit be quarantined until plutonium contamination thereon was removed. - Sr oe The AEC Task Group Report also recommendedthat additional studies be conducted prior to rehabilitation to determine radioactivity in coconut and other food crops, in lens water, and in air under conditions approximating human habitation; and that after rehabilitation, continuing