enabled helicopter and LCM recovery missions to begin as soon fas possible.
Crews began decontaminating the small craft left behind in tha lagoon during the shot.
Likewise, personnel on board the Bairoko decon
HMR-362 helicopters as they returned aboard the carrier from
covery missions.
inated
rvey or re-
A returning helicopter would land in the canvas bathtub,
where it was scrubbed and hosed down with fresh water
(Referenke ll,
p. 6-7).
After initial survey and recovery efforts were underway, the Curtiss
and the Ainsworth returned to the lagoon, followed by the restfof the task
group ships.
These vessels entered last since many of their
stshot ac-
tivities were dependent upon radiological surveys of the waterfin the vicinity of the shot site
(Reference ll, p. 6-7).
Table 10 summarizes radsafe-related activities at Bikini ndar each
shot time.
ENEWETAK SHOT.
Shot NECTAR, fired on 14 May at 0620, did rpt require
a full-scale evacuation of Enewetak Atoll.
Instead, personnel
Enewetak, Parry, and other islands in the southern portion of
Jnoved to
e atoll.
Nevertheless, "all ships were evacuated to nearby operating arefBs at sea
as a precautionary measure."
Reentry began immediately after the detona-
tion and within an hour all ships had returned to their berths
[in the la-
goon in readiness to evacuate the atoll should fallout pose a d&Bnger to
personnel (Reference ll, p. 6-8).
POSTEVENT SAFETY MEASURES
General Procedures
All personnel on Bikini were evacuated before each detonatign.
reconnaissance by helicopter established the radiological levelq
lagoon and on the islands of the atoll.
Early
in the
All islands were considered con-
taminated until cleared by TG 7.1 Radsafe Control personnel.
Preoperation planning called for Enewetak postshot control
d decon-
tamination activities to be centered at Enewetak and Parry islands.
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