,.

transuranic elerner?t
~/ cleanup criteria for the island
of Enjebi, for example, which would eventually allow
it to be used as a residence island (once suburanic
elements ~/ no longer pose a health hazard}, about”50
percent more soil would have to be excised using the
more conservative philosophy.
--The Enewetak Radiological Survey dose assessments were
based on averages for islands and groups of islands.
Now dose assessments require consideration of the worst
region on each island. This leads to higher radiation
dose estimates. .
=-During 1977 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
published proposed guidelines for dose limits for perscns
exposed to transuranic elements in the environment which
are much more stringent than those recommended by the
Atomic Energy Commission Task Group on Recommendations for
Cleanup and Rehabilitation of Enewetak Atoll. The radiological cleanup criteria have been made.more stringent in
an effort to meet the proposed EPA guidelines.
--The Task Group’s radiological cleanup guidelines
considered onl;’plutonium-239 and plutoniu!’-24O. The
cleanup guidelines were broadened to include all
transuranic elements. The greatest danger from
plutonium-239 and plutonium-240 was calculated to-be
from inhalation and which was relatively small in
comparison to all other dose pathways. The inhalation
and ingestion pathways become more significant when
considering additional transuranic elements and the
more stringent EPA guidelines.
--The cleanup emphasis shifted from excising plutonium
from islands originally programmed for agriculture
or food gathering purposes immediately after cleanup
to excising transuranic elements from islands which
can be used for additional purposes sometime in the
future when suburanic elements no longer pose a health
Inherent in this philosophy change is that
hazard.
additional islands may have to be indefinitely quarantined because resource and time constraints may not
permit cleaning them up.

●

~/ Transuranic elements are those having atomic numbers greater than that
of uranium.
~/ Suburanic elements are those having ato~ic numbers less than that Of
uranium.
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