ee ee eee Oa ee oe me ee M. E. Gates ~2- ee oom eee oe Bel sigs at least initially it might be more reasonable to authorize a "level of effort" program rather than to try to define and design and schedule as one might in a more conventional engineering job. Second, and perhaps the most important given, is the fact (and it is fact) that there is no way that Enewetak can be restored radiologically to the Atoll that it once was. With the limited resources that have been made available, there will of necessity be tasks left undone and conditions left unimproved. Many compromises with desired standards will be required, many trade-offs will be examined. Third, and finally, overall responsibility for the cleanup of Enewetak has been squarely placed upon the Director, DNA. His must be the decisions, and it is he who must answer to the Congress for the rationale of decision, the stewardship of resources, and of course, the end product—the condition of Enewetak when the project is complete. Our role, as I have repeatedly said to both the Director DNA and the Commander, Field Command, is to assist the responsible agent of the Director (the Commander of the Joint Task Group) in assessing the radiological component of his decisions. Note that the decisions which this paper addresses have to do exclusively with the removal of soil which is contaminated with transuranic elements. At this time we have only a gross picture of the surface concentrations for most of the islands of Enewetak. We are acquiring more detailed information, island by island; and DNA hopes, in the very near future, . to commence soil removal. The guidance for soil removal provided by the AEC in 1974, is admittedly just that--general guidance. It recommends soil removal wherever a concentration of 400 pCi/gm or greater is found; it accepts concentrations below 40 pci/gm as requiring no action; and it provides for a "case-by-case" determination in the range between 40 and 400. It is really this case-by-case determination “which becomes the issue, for the DNA command authorities have chosen to consider the "above 400" criterion as direction rather than guidance; and, thus, the removal of all soil exceeding that criterion as the sine-qua—non of a successful cleanup. Many (perhaps most) of the informed DOE observers have disagreed with such a literal application of the guidance; but again, Director, DNA, has the mandate and the "monkey." When one looks at the portion of the task which the Commander, Field Command, chooses to term "discretionary"~—-that is, soil removal in the 40-400 range--it is apparent that it will be a major consumer of resources and will likely have the greatest impact upon resettlement options. It is generally accepted that (other conditions being equal) the potential usefulness of an island will be in inverse proportion to the average concentration of transuranics remaining after cleanup. Thus, an island which has been brought to below 40 pCi/gm may be ” -