Though promulgated by FCDNA, the above recommendations were not immediately accepted as official DNA policy; that acceptance was delayed until the 6 January 1978 DNA/DOE issue resolution conference. As of the date the conference was in session, initial characterization was completed, or nearly so, for the most important and most complex islands, namely Pearl, Sally, Irene, and Janet. The eonferees agreed that to some lesser degree of urgency, characterization of Alice, Belle, and Daisy must be accomplished. To present a complete characterization of the scope of northern island soil cleanup, Yvonne and the other northern islands not mentioned should be characterized with a completion target date of 1 April 1978. Before priorities could be set for the lesser islands, an important question, whose answer could have a long term impact, had to be asked and a decision made: Should the limited cleanup resources available be used for cleanup of Janet or Yvonne? DOE had long argued that Janet was of greater import than Yvonne to the people of Enewetak because of its past use, and potential future use, as a residence island. Supporting considerations included the fact that if Janet was not now cleaned to the residence criteria for transuranics then it would never qualify even after sufficient decay of the fission products, whereas Yvonne was of little, if any, interest for future residential use and would never qualify for any intended use because the heterogeneous distribution of transuranics made cleanup to criteria highly improbable. The DNA view had recently been that cleanup was mandated for islands with 239,240py concentrations exceeding 400 pCi/g, and the largest volume of soil falling in this category was located on Yvonne; therefore, cleanup of Yvonne was mandated, with resource expenditure for cleanup of Janet limited to removal of hazardous debris. Rationale presented at the 6 January meeting, and decisions that followed, were prepared as a joint DNA/DOE meeting report and these important conclusions are noted: e Realizing the value of Janet as a residence island and the likely permanent restriction of Yvonne for any use, the consensus was that consideration be given to eleaning Janet, and otherislands, in lieu of cleanup of Yvonne. @ It was agreed that priority would be put on the thorough characterization of the radiological environment of all the northern islands, excluding Yvonne, and that DOE would make dose assessments for a range of contamination levels and uses of islands. (The full report may be seen in the microfiche under Deal, 2/1978.) Radiological characterization of the northern islands continued from 6 January toward the 1 April target date, by which time results for 11 of the most important islands had been transmitted from DOE/ERSP to JTG. This effort continued and, by the time of the 3-4 May conference, results for four additional islands, plus the south half of Yvonne, had been transmitted. Results for the six smallest northern islands were being accumulated but were not considered critical to future planning decisions. Necessary planning factors were, therefore, available prior to the 3-4 May decision conference. In a draft report of the conference the Director, DNA stated cleanup priorities to be: 1. First Priority - Removal and disposal of the contaminated waste from the Aomon Crypt. 2. Second Priority - Cleanup of Sally and Janet to 80 pCi/g with the objective of reducing contamination to 40 pCi/g, if resources permit. Since current estimates indicate resources will not be available to clean Janet to the level of residential use, it is planned to lower the soil concentrations to a level as low as practical within the time and resources available. 3. 4. Third Priority - As resources permit, clean up Irene and Pearl to some level which will permit restricted use of the land short of quarantine. Coneurrent - With resources available on Yvonne for crater operation and which are not otherwise fully employed, excavate known highly contaminated soil and deposit it in the crater. 67