414

RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL

e

technical guidance to the troops on containmentoperations and especially
on mixingthe slurry and placing it by the tremie. 28.29

To develop formulas for the slurry and soil-cement mixtures, POD
engaged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment
Station (WES). Using samples of Enewetak sand, Type I Portland cement,
salt water, and bentonite-attapulgite, WES prepared several different
mixtures and evaluated them for mixability, pumpability, placeability, ang
strength. Bentonite is a fresh-water clay which is used as a colloidal
suspending agent, or lubricant, in drilling wells and pumping concrete,

while attapulgite is a salt-water clay used for the same purposes. The
Enewetak sand contained a high percentageofcalcium, little silica, and was
very angular and sharp.It lacked the fine particles which normally promote
pumpability in sanded grouts; consequently, higher proportions of
bentonite and water were required in the mixture so that it could be

pumped through the tremie pipes.39

The samples of Enewetak sand which had been furnished for the
experiments was not sufficient for full-scale field tests. WES prepared a
substitute using crushed limestone and an expanded clay combined 50/50
by weight so as to matchas nearly as possible the physical characteristics of

Enewetak sand. This material was mixed with cement, bentonite, andsalt

water in various proportions and pumped througha tremiepipeintoa test

pit filled with salt water.3! Field tests also were made on various soil-

cement mixturesto be used in stabilizing contaminated soil once the crater
itself was full. Based on these experiments, formulas were developed for
use at Enewetak. The report by WES concluded by emphasizing the need

for quality control in the makeup of the slurry and soil-cement mixtures.

In adopting the mixtures recommended by WES, Field Commandchose
to use TypeII cement which provided greater strength whenusedwithsalt
water and was no more expensive than the Type I used in the experiment.
After considerable discussion, attapulgite was chosen as the colloidal
agent. The mixture adopted by Field Commandfor tremie slurry was three

bags of cement and one-half bag (50 pounds) of attapulgite per cubic yard

of mix. For the soil-cement mixture, two bags of cement were to be used

for each cubic yard ofsoil.32

To protect the containment structure from the initial shock of wave
action during construction, POD designed a mole, or revetment, to be
located on the ocean side of the keywall (Figure 8-9). It was to be
constructed of armor stone (pieces of blast rock, concrete, or other rocks
weighing over 1,500 pounds) and choked with smaller rock and

aggregate.33

Design of the crater containment worksite was complicated by the
apparent presence of concentrations of highly contaminated material

found on the rim of Cactus Crater by earlier radiological surveys

————

Select target paragraph3