I
rat
un
t —HKnewetak's
uiit
will be heavily dressed in full protective clothing:. Spay
ward, they are indicative of a caution bordering
on uncertainty aboul exposure to places like
Runit.
On Runit, two of the many detonations carved
craters — Cactus and LaCrosse —~ and it is into
ractus that trocps of the 64th Enginecring Battal.
en from Schofield Barracks in Hawaii will be
burying radioactive wastes./:.
Two troop teams will sweep across the rest of
the atoll while 83 persons of Team C will go to
ven on KRunit. With them at all limes will be
tuhcor nine radiological sefely officers, part of a
vroun of 63 persons directly responsible for radiolonical control.
Vaya will be concerned wbout the safety of the
Contaminated soil will be’ Mexcised'! in pinches,
;; Ray said he believes there is an ‘institutional as
placod in a canopy-covered dump ruck and haul:
well as personal moral commitment to make the .
ed to Cactus crater lo be dumpedintoits pit.
eiatoll salo for the Enewetak people to resume their
But what is the level of risk?
ani wo of life.
“We have no specific analysis of safetyin terms RDA, has developed what te 5 calling a “dose
—
tion. Although the tests revealed nothing unto.
of a statistical expectation of numbers of cancers. commitment” for ‘he Enewelak people, ‘defined }
or deaths,” suid Noger Ray, assistant manager of. .as,the maximum absorption of radioactive }
environment and safely for the Energy Research: _ materials they can receive without risk.
and Development Administration (ENDA).. “UWe " . We hope the people will be here for a lifetime 5
just don’t expect any guy who comes oul here to and lor generations,’ Ray said...
¥
und up with a greater expusure than he would :. o'S2 what would be acceptable numbers in the ,
have had if he had stayed home.
.
way ‘of radiation for a guy who is here only six }
“Wilh the emission of any rays from the plus© Months, eating meuls prepared entirely frow food |
tonium, you're talking aboul a movement of tens,+ shipped in from oulside — well, (hose numbers
of fect or yards, nol Movenient clear across the ~. ; Must be very much lower for these people.
}
atoll.’
yeie “1t's that sort of consideration Uiat acevunts lov \
People on the southern islands of the ‘atoll today> US Sepying the atoll to them for sO many years.
xre in the same kind of rudioactive environment cor
men doing the work as well as ourscelves,’’ said thalone would find on lhe Muiniand, he said.
Cupt. Day. ‘Each person and his tools ‘vill be
“If you go fo Runit or other islands in the north, }
continuously monitored with instruments.
‘you come up with levels that, over a-long period.
“Our biggest problem will be with the plutoni- of time, would be three or four tinies above,}
pp
um in the soit. Kicking it up im the dust and resus- what's acceptable.
pending the plutonium in the.air is the biggest
“So you start leckang at what you can remove.
},
t
risk. Qur fechngs are that the Migration of plu- You can remove a piece of contaminated iron —
tonium should be very smad, based on our esti- -thal’s a gamima emitter. It's going to be less easy
mates of foot traffic and light vehicles on (he Site. to remove the scil.i
Besides plutonium, the radioactive.* Gontami“We'l] have to determine this, however, by
actual exrerience. We'll be controlling the dust by nants at Enewelak-are cesiuin, strontium 90 and
weter sprinkling, and by ayaiding brule force on
cobalt Gd. ‘Fine cost 19 rehabililate the atoll for ihe
{+
y
the soil. We'll be removing it at deplins of 2 to 3 460 pcople who wish to Hve here is budgeted at $32
inches at a tine, and of cours? we'll closely watch million and may run higher. But the money. the. }!
United States spent in its 10-year testing program
the wind.’
'
Ali-of the Lroops and radiological safety officers: ran into the billions, recalls Ray.
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an atomic species of spentancously emitted radia-
remember that in‘the 195 Os, we used lo saya
and complete face masks, he said. The men wil) *.weather delay cost us $} million a day. Our operawork two hours, then take Iwo. hours off:‘because : tiqnal gosts; running three to four months, we
of the merciless temperature, ¢.; “maybe $100 to $150 million apiece. "
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