From [958 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. During 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 TTP! 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 1972 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 surveyof. 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 Environ- mental 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, andits 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 (DoE); second, the cleanup by DoD, based upon the radiological characterization developed in the first phase; and third, the rehabilitation (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,