P_
Radiation Safety and Cleanup Preparations

19]

supervised island access and insured that the above procedures were

followed. Personnel leaving a controlled island were monitored, logged,

and decontaminated if necessary. Contamination levels, both before and
vehicle or
after decontamination, were recorded in the access logs. No

other item of equipment was allowed to leave a controlled island until it
was monitored and, if required, decontaminated. Where necessary,

contaminated items were packaged and appropriately labeled. 33

Because of the nonuniform distribution of the contamination on many

of the controlled islands, hot lines were established which separated the
contaminated area from the clean area. In these cases, personnel arrived

and departed in the clean area, and the hotlines served as the island access
point. Hot lines were established upwind, or within 90 degrees of upwind
of the worksite, as close to thesite as practical, and in a clear area. The hot

line was positioned in an area where the background dose rate was less
than 50 microroentgens per hour (uR/hr) and the concentration of
transuranic elements in the soil was less than 40 pCi/g.34 Here, an

additional access log was kept to provide a record of personnel data,
dosimeter numbers, and applicable personnel protection level. FRST
members insured that individuals entering the radiologically controlled
area were wearing the proper protective equipmentfor that area. When
processing out of the controlled area, all personnel, equipment, and
vehicles were monitored and decontaminated as necessary. Protective
equipment was removed following the procedures outlined in Army Field
Manual, FM 3-15, Nuclear Accident Contamination Control.35
Because of the large size of the contaminated area on some islands, a
clean spot within the hot area was occasionally designated as a break area.
The siting requirements for a hot line—upwind and in contamination-free
area—were met. After being monitored by the FRST and decontaminated
as necessary, personnel could eat, drink, and smoke within the break area.
Another way of keeping exposure to a minimum is to keep the radiation
away from the individual. When an individual entered a radiation area,
several procedures were used to minimize exposure.
The most basic, and most important, of these made use of the wind.
From the day personnel arrived on the atoll until the day they left,
continuous indoctrination and instruction emphasized staying upwind
from any contaminated area, any soil-moving operation, and any dustproducing operation. For example, personnel were instructed to walk on
the upwind shoulder of the road so that any dust raised by a passing

vehicle would be blownclear. The ‘‘upwind’’ policy was substantially aided

by: (1) the steadiness of the northeast trade winds, which made the upwind
Sectors quite predictable for most days during large portions of the year;

and (2) the strength of these trade winds (15-25 knots on the average)

SERRE

Select target paragraph3