ee
a
wt dee bee
dri-Enewetak would not appreciate any criteria which were less stringent
than had been usedat Bikini.) He further expressed concern that if any
specific numbers were announcedascriteria, they would be rejected by
i
EPA.307 Thus, the ERDAadvice wasthat Field Command should develop
radiological criteria, with whatever assumptions deemed suitable, and
present it to ERDA for approval.
A concept was then formulated at Field Command for monitoring
A eet itanttay Card bg casi eee Td he
13]
CONPLAN I-76 was based on the EIS Case 3 radiological cleanup as
approved by Congress and the JCS.3!! That plan still had to be modified
somewhat in subsequent planning actions, however.
FIELD COMMANDOPLAN600-77: 1977
Y
debris. The monitoring included definitive measurementsfor alpha, beta,
and gammaradiation under various conditions. The criteria were specific,
Field Command OPLAN 600-77 was essentially an expansion of the 15
September 1976 Field Command CONPLAN I-76; however, it could not
!
reached that the criteria were acceptable, and that they should be set forth
Services had been formally tasked to support the project. Beginning in
August 1976, Field Command began preparations to develop the OPLAN.
I
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and they were forwarded to Headquariers DOE for review. A decision was
explicitly in Standing Operating Procedures for use on the atoll by cleanup
forces.
With respect to contaminated soil, the AEC Task Group had
recommendedthat it be removed if plutonium concentrations exceeded
400 pCi/g; removed on a case-by-case basis, considering all radiological
conditions, if plutonium concentrations were in the range of 40 to
400 pCi/g; and not be removed if plutonium concentrations were less than
40 pCi/g.
Despite the specificity of the Task Group criteria for soil removal, there
still were uncertainties concerning the area/volume of soil to which the
plutonium concentrations were to apply. At one extreme, an ‘“‘island
average’? could be used. At the other (impractical, but illustrative)
extreme, a gram-by-gram decision could be made. Thus, the soil cleanup
criteria also needed clarification so that techniques could be deftned for
assaying and removingsoil.
_
The initial Field Command concept for evaluating soil was to gather and
analyze samples in a manner similar to that which had been used for the
Radiological Survey, but on a more closely spaced grid, and only in those
portions of islands which appeared likely to have average concentrations
exceeding 40 pCi/g based on survey data. The question Field Command
sought to have answered by ERDA in meetings on developing a
Radiological Cleanup Plan was how many samples would be required from
any area to achieve a characterization which would satisfy certification
expectations. Once ERDA chose an in situ method in lieu of the
survey-type soil sampling method, the question changedin nature.
Another conference was held at Field Command on 28-29 December
1976.398 It produced a Radiological Cleanup Plan which was modified
Py pt
final CONPLAN I-76.
y Pts by
32
4
am USO ds dil Appel a me
In summary, radiological cleanup planning had required extensive effort
over many months by Field Command and ERDA plannersto resolve the
many questions concerning concept and method of execution. The final
be developed until MILCON funds had been appropriated and the Military
The Plans and Operations Director, Colonel John V. Hemler, Jr., USA,
assumed responsibility for preparing the plan. In actual practice, COL
Schaefer, and COL Thompson, (both of the Logistics Directorate), who
had finalized the CONPLANs, served with COL Hemler as tri-chairmen in
presiding over the OPLAN development conferences. To develop the
individual annexes of the OPLAN, functional working groups were
established, each chaired by a Field Command staffofficial, including:3!2
Operations Group - LCDR R. F. Walters, USN
Radiological Subgroup - LTC M. L. Sanches, USA
Logistics Group - Mr. D. L. Wilson
Comptroller Group - LTC M. J. Worrick, USAF
Manpower Group - CPT L. C. Dudley, USAF
Communications Group - LTC R. H. Ludwig, USAF
On 10 September 1976, the Secretary of Defense had requested the JCS
to task the Services for project support. It had been hoped that the first
OPLAN development conference could be held later that month.
However, it was 24 January 1977 before the JCS provided formal
tasking.3!3 Therefore, the first conference had to be postponed several
times and finally began on 3 February 1977 in Albuquerque. The Army
representatives still had not received their tasking when the first
conference began.
FIRST OPLAN CONFERENCE: 3-4 FEBRUARY 1977
ec conerees came trom the
Service headquarters in Washington and their action-level commands: i.e.,
Army Forces Command, Commander Naval Surface Forces, Pacific
(COMNAVSURFPAC), and Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). ERDA
representatives came from their Washington headquarters and the Nevada