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CHAPTER 2
RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP EFFORTS:
IS A
MODIFIED SOLUTION ACCEPTABLE?
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As work progresses on the radiological debris and soil cleanup
portion of’the program, there are several developments that suggest only a
modified solution cf the original plan will be achieved.
Thus, more
living pattern restrictions than initially envisioned may have to
be imposed on the returning people of Enewetak.
Some islands
designated for agricultural or food gathering purposes may have to
be quarantined indefinitely.
DNA plans to do what it can within a
prescribed time limit and available resources.
As it stands now,
once that commitment is satisfied the cleanup will cease.
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The Enewetak cleanup plan
DNAand
the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA],
now DOE, agreed that the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll would
remove and dispose of the radiological hazard SQ that the people could
be safely resettled.
They acknowledged that”it was impossible to reduce
radiological contamination to pre-test levels.
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They agreed that it was
possible and feasible, however, to rehabilitate the atoll in a manner that
would assure the safety of the returning people by employing certain
restrictions on land use and locally grown foods and by continual surveillance
.of the residual radioactivity.
The Enewetak Atoll Master Plan divides the islands of the atoll into
three categories reflecting the primary functional use of each island.
The plan designates the islands as inhabited, agricultural, ~r food gathering” sites as decided upon by the Enewetak people.
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