Eluklab had been located just west of Boken, at the northernmost extension of the atoll. A large air-dropped device was exploded over the reef just off Runit as the second event of the IVY series. The locations of all these pre-CASTLE detonations are shown in Figure 10. A qualitative measure of the radiological conditions at Enewetak before CASTLE is available in the form of a joint task force TG 7.1 planning discussion held at LASL in March 1953. A LASL spokesman said that Enjebi "was still quite hot" at that time and that this should be taken into conSideration in planning instrument placement for CASTLE (Reference 7). A slightly more quantitative description of the contamination from prior tests and the subsequent work necessary to make it possible to work in the area is recorded in the final report for CASTLE of the base support contractor (Reference 5). An advance camp was to be set up on Lojwa in the Eleleron-to-Lojwa complex, and it was necessary to fill the crater on Eleleron resulting from the GEORGE detonation of GREENHOUSE. The “average radiation level in this area [presumably near the crater] was 50 to 95 mr per hour in December [1952]. . . . Some experimental work was done toward decontaminating the areas and it was found that the most satisfactory results were obtained by removal of vegetation and up to 12 inches of top soil." The disposal of this contaminated layer of soil is not discussed in Reference 5. The crater itself is a likely prospect. The crater was being filled in the spring of 1953 and by May 1953 the radiation level was low enough that "construction forces could live ashore in camps indefinitely, within allowable dosage" (Reference 5, p. 2-51). Before this, the construction personnel had been flown from Parry to Lojwa daily, or had lived in the lagoon on an LCU equipped as a houseboat. The actual camp- site at Lojwa had to be scraped to a depth of about 3 inches (8 cm) and backfilled with uncontaminated coral to ensure its long-term habitability. The MIKE detonation was many times larger than any prior Enewetak tests, and the crater formed was probably still radioactive. The crater, however, was thickly blanketed by seawater that provided a high degree of 49