application of Federal guidance on radiation
protection, aud (2) meet uc “15 ive as
practicable’ criterion consiuerinug factors of
practicality and effectiveness.
These principles were followed in the Bikini
Atoll cleanup, the n.ost .pprooriate precedent
for Enewetak. The Enewetak cleanup and
rehabilitation recommendations, including
the restrictions, are similar to those for
Bikini. About the same order of conservatism
was used in applying the standards.
While there are no national or international
criteria for plutonium cleanup, the staff
recommendations are consistent with a recent,
independent study performed by LASL entitled,
"A Proposed Interim Standard for Plutonium
in Soils, ''
LA-5483-MS, dated January 1974.
EPA plans to develop cleanup guides for plutonium
contaminated land but these will not be availanple
for some time. Plutonium contamination on the
islands of Enewetak is confined principaily to
well defined and relatively small areas. The
exception is the contamination on YVONNE;
about half of the 94 acres of this island is
highly contaminated. There is a wide range
of particle sizes, and the distribution in the
soilis not uniform. The recommended criteria
for cleanup of plutonium in the soil are intended
for use throughout the islands of the Atoll.
Specific recommendations for cleanup of YVONNE
are also given. Decontamination of YVONNE is
seen as an iterative process to be conducted bv
a team of experts.
There remains the difficult
problem orf disposal of the contaminated soil
which is a responsibility of DNA. However, by
the time cleanup is started, a method for ~isposal
may be available. If not, then the plutoniumdebris
throughout the Atoll should be retained on YVONNE
and the quarantine of that island continued unil
contamination is removed. Further study is needea
on possible removal of the plutonium contamination
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