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RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL

members, 16 Municipal Council members, 11 alabs, and their attorney

Mr. Mitchell. The first session was disrupted when the dri-Enewetak Were
informed by ERSP that it now appeared that the Joint Task Group woujg
be able to clean Enjebi to residential levels of transuranics (40 pCi/g). This
appeared to change the entire purpose of the conferenceso far as the dri.
Enewetak were concerned. They immediately began asking questions
about the safety of living on Enjebi as soon as cleanup was complete. Ar

their request, a tour of the southwest islands was cancelled so that they
might tour Enjebi instead. While the dri-Enewetak spent the next day
touring the northern islands, Mr. Mitchell was meeting with the U\S.
Government representatives to discuss coconut planting. 70
The DOE representative, Mr. Deal, described the Bikini problem with
fission products, emphasizing that DOE did not want a similar problem at
Enewetak. He was advised that the Bikini report would be available for
review in January or February 1979 but that detailed current data on
Enewetak was not available to determine the potential hazards of
residence or planting on the northern islands. It would require several
months to conducta fission products survey to provide complete data for
such determinations. Meanwhile, based on data from the 1972 survey,
DOE had recommended against planting those islands in the near future,

Mr. Deal did not wish to discuss the possibility with the dri-Enewetak./!

After much further discussion, he was persuaded to attempt to explain to
the people those factors which should be considered in any planting
decision for the northern islands, such as life-style and potential health

hazards, 72

On the following day, the conferees met again to allow Mr. Deal to
explain the radiological factors involved in planting the northern islands.
The people’s questions, however, pertained almost entirely to the hazards
of living on the northern islands. He reminded them that all the data
calculations and dose estimates that had been presented to them in

September 1974 showed thatliving on Enjebi would subject them to dose

rates exceeding the U.S. Federal standards. It was at this point that the driEnewetak requested thata fission products survey be made and theresults

be presented to them by 1 June 1979.73 Follow-on actions to bring the
fission products data base survey in the northern islands to reality are
described in Chapter 7.

NORTHERN ISLAND PLANTING DECISION: 1979
The results of the new fission products survey of the northern islands

were made available in July 1979. The survey results were incorporated by
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory into a preliminary dose reassessment,

Select target paragraph3