LLL/EV-8 2-23 19, 305- DETAIL ATTACHMENTS This is a new project. a. Facility Requirements Not applicable. b. Publications Not applicable. c. Purpose The purpose of this task is to compile and store in a centralized data bank all available radiological and related data obtained in the Marshall Islands before, during, and after the U.S. nuclear testing program, This will facilitate and expedite assessment activities that heretofore were impossible or required inordinate efforts compile pertinent information. d. to Background From 1947 through 1958 nuclear tests were conducted by the U.S. at Enewetak and Bikini Atolls in the Northern Marshall Islands after inhabitants were evacuated. In 1969, a limited clean-up and an initial phase of housing construction was begun at Bikini Atoll, with some Bikini people resettled on Bikini Island. In 1972, the Enewetak people requested that they be allowed to return to Enewetak Atoll; a MajOr survey and assessment program was undertaken to evaluate the radiological consequences of such a resettlement. conclusions were The general that the northern half of Enewetak Atoll was not suitable for resettlement and that terrestrial food chains were potentially the most critical radiological dose pathway. In 1975, in evaluating plans to start a second phase of housing construction on Bikini Atoll, it was decided to first conduct a more detailed survey of Bikini and Eneu Islands. The results of this survey indicated that people residing on Bikini Atoll would receive doses exceeding the U.S. federal guidelines (1). The apparent conflict between recommendations dictated by these assessments and the desire of the Bikini people to resettle Bikini and Eneu Islands point out the need for more detailed and refined assessments of both islands. In 1978, the decision was made that before the end of the Trust Territory Agreement the U.S. should evaluate the radiological conditions of all of the northern Marshall Islands Atolls downwind of the Pacific Proving Grounds. The field study, conducted from September 1978 through November 1979, and subsequent analyses of collected samples have produced the very large body of data needed for the radiological assessments. omnis 5016694