have the disadvantage that the crater area would have to be quarantined for an indefinite period. Also, it is not in keeping with the expressed desire of the Enewetak people that all contaminated items be removed from the atoll. Although the cost of crater dumping is approximately only 5% of the crater entombment procedure described later, it has bean rejected . xX Acmeal bem would from further consideration as the contaminated materials ( t potential threat to the safety of the Enewetak people. The debrisladen craters would require continuous surveillance and policing to enforce a quarantine on the area which would be necessary for the safety of the atoll population. In addition, the craters would be neither lined nor capped in this option and there would be nothing to prevent the migration of the radionuclides into ocean and lagoon waters through cracks and fissures in the crater walls, or to prevent redistribution on land as a result of wave action or storms. 5.4.3.2.3 Crater Containment. Crater containment also utilizes the Runit craters for disposal but with additional measures taken to prevent human contact with the radioactive material, or the entry of the material into the food chain. The crater bottoms and sides would be sealed with , concrete. The plutonium contaminated soil would then be mixed with cement and water to form a soil~cement slurry which would be placed in the crater. Radioactive debris would be dumped into the lined crater along with the slurry. This would be done in such a manner that erosive water velocities are held to the lowest practicable level in order to reduce the transport potential of the plutonium in the soil. Crater containment also has the further advantages of: e ‘@ @ Reducing the availability of small contaminated particles and contaminated scrap by binding them in a cementations matrix. Providing a coating for the sand and plutonium particles to shield and reduce the hazards of alpha emissions. .Dispersing the radioactive material within disposal criteria in a relatively uniform manner within the larger mass of material available. -@ Placing the material in a semipermanent location where it would be least available to man but where it could be observed and retrieved if necessary or desirable. It should be noted that the containment is not required nor intended _ to be leak proof. An 18-inch thick concrete cap or lid would be placed over the entire mass for erosion resistance and to seal off the radioactive 5-15 Xx