a tat red cn oH oP 10. Tt has been proposed by UCRL and ALOO that Taongi Atoll be set up as a third firing site at EPG for HARDTACK and future test operations. Taongi is an uninhabited atoll located approxi- mately at 168° 50! E longitude and 14° 40'N latitude, 285 miles northeast of Bikini and 324 miles south-southeast of Wake Island. It is erescent-shaped, approximately 10 miles. long and X miles wide at its greatest width. A chord joining the tips of the crescent lies along a NNW-SSEE direction and is approximately normal to the wind. The lagoon is totally landlocked except for a very narrow channel in the leeward reef. The land areas of the atoll, consisting of long narrow sand islands the lying along southeastern side of the atoll from northeast to southwest, span a distance of some 8 miles. to using Taongi. There are two major advantages First, due to its unique location with respect to inhabited lands of the Marshall Islands, the southern boundary of the danger area and the permanent facilities of EPG, Taongi has always been recognized as having distinct advantages as regards safety. From the standpoint of fallout, Taongi is a safer place to fire high yield shots than either Bikini or Eniwetok. It may be necessary to extend the danger areito the east since the distance from Taongl to the eastern boundary of the danger area used on REDWING is only about 200 miles. But this does not necessarily imply that the HARDTACK danger area would be larger than that for REDWING; the danger area to be used will be based upon an evaluation of all pertinent factors such as yield, shot site, position of device, and so forth. - 12 - Also, the Appendix "a"