UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20545 BAR 24 1972 To Files he MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR WILLIAMS ON REHABILITATION OF ENIWETOK ATOLL On March 16, 1972, Dr. Martin 8. Biles, Mr. Roger Ray of NV, and I met with Ambassador Franklin Williams, the President's personal representative for Micronesion Status Negotiations, and members of his staff to discuss the rehabilitation of Eniwetok Atoll. Also attending were representatives of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA). Ambassador Williams stated that he and his staff are preparing for the next session of status negotiations for the Trust Territory on April 2, 1972, and are studying the position to be taken on Eniwetok Atoll. They most desire to avoid any confrontation with the Eniwetok people at this time, Considering that military requirements for use of the Atoll will be ended with completion of the PACE experiments, a series of high explosives tests on islands near former nuclear test sites, Williams was considering the possibility of an immediate return of a portion of the islands in the Atoll that had not been used by DOD and which were largely unaffected by past nuclear tests. In any event, Williams would like to announce that Eniwetok Atoll was to be returned to the former residents at the April 2 meeting. The AEC representatives reviewed past experience with Bikini Atoll and the considerations, decisions, and actions that lie behind the judgment that the Bikini people could be safely returned to their homeland. The potential problems with radioactive scrap material and contaminated soil in and around craters on certain islands at Eniwetok was discussed. Roger Ray who had recently visited Eniwetok reported on the large quantities of scrap metal some of it containing induced radioactivity, seen in that Atoll. Compared to Bikini, the job of cleanup was estimated to be much bigger and more costly. We also discussed the lack of current monitoring data for all of Eniwetok Atoll and the time and expense required to obtain this information. AEC representatives stated that possibly the dollars required for the radiological survey of Eniwetok, about $150,000 to $200,000, could be provided within current budget limitations by reprogramming projects, but funds for the large cost of cleanup, which may run from two to five million dollars depending on actions needed, are not available. Representatives of DNA stated they could be the lead agency for cleanup operations as was DASA (JTF-8) for Bikini, but they could not provide the money from