c—_

85

planning and Programming
Individual in Population

Critical

(AEC Task Group Report)

Organs

Laren

Whole Body

0.25

Bone

0.75

Bone Marrow

0.25
4 remsin 30 years

Gonads

0.75

Thyroid

These guides are Atomic Energy Commission Task Group Report recom-

mendations applicable to the Enewetak Atoll Situation. They are derived
from the Federal Radiation Council (FRC) Radiation Protection Guides

(RPG) by using 50 percent of the FRC RPG for individual exposure and
80 percent of the FRC RPG guide for gonadal exposure, These reduced
values are recommended as a necessary precaution to allow for uncertainty in prediction of annual exposures to individuals in the alternative

programs.
FIGURE 2-1. DOSE GUIDELINES FOR ENEWETAK ATOLL (REM/YR).

The cleanup would remove as much radioactivity as possible from the

islands, after which other remedial measures would be relied upon to

reduce the predicted dose to lowerlevels, if necessary. If the cleanup did
not result in a predicted dose less than the AEC guidelines for Enewetak

Atoll, the return of the dri-Enewetak to the atoll would not be
recommended. !03

In accordance with the recommendations of the AEC Task Group
Report, options for cleanupof radiological hazards were limited to removal
of contaminated scrap and removal of plutonium-contaminated soil. A
third possibility, that of removing soil contaminated with fission products;
i.e., cesium-137 and strontium-90, was determined to be counterproduc-

tive at best and possibly irrevocably destructive. It required removal of

such vast amountsofsoil that it would result in severe ecological damage

and would notpositively assure the radiological safety of the people. !04 It
was decided to leave the fission products to decay naturally. (The fission
products have half-lives of about 30 years in contrast to the plutonium

half-life of about 24,000 years.)

Following the alternatives and recommendations of the Enewetak
Radiological Survey, the Master Plan, and the AEC Task Group Report,
the DEIS outlined several options for habitation as a means of minimizing
predicted doses. These were basedonrestricting the use ofvariousislands;
Le., using only the cleanest for residence; the next cleanestfor agriculture,
efi

we

ee

Select target paragraph3