Committee, which includes a medical doctor, a DoE representative, and a representative from each of the Service elements,
monitors the overall radiation safety program.
In addition,
an independent audit and
inspection
team of
experts headed
by the Director, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute,
and including representatives from DoE, the three Services,
and AFRRI visit the Atoll on a quarterly basis to ensure
the program is being properly implemented.
In order to assure compliance with these standards
and insure that any exposure is kept to a minimum, access
to the contaminated islands is rigidly controlled.
When
personnel do work on these islands, it is under the supervision
of the Radiation Control Committee, and under the constant
Surveillance of a Field Radiation Support Team.
This team
monitors the local radiation environment, continually samples
the air for airborne activity, determines the level of protective equipment needed, and monitors personnel for contamina-—
tion.
Specific procedures have been formulated to provide
detailed day-to-day guidance on safety and other procedures
pertaining to operations that might involve radiological
contamination
(copies attached).
Although the low gamma radiation levels found at Enewetak
Atoll would not normally require a full-scale dosimetry
program,
we have chosen to establish one.
All personnel
who work on, or visit, the contaminated northern islands
(the controlled islands) are issued a film badge on a monthly
basis.
Self-reading ionization chambers (pocket dosimeters)
are also issued, as required, to supplement the film badge
program, and are read on a daily basis.
Whenever earth-moving operations are to be conducted
in contaminated areas, water sprinklers are set up to minimize resuspension of contamination. During transit the
trucks are wet-down and covered with tarpaulins for the
Same reason.
Air samplers are set up immediately downwind
of the operation to monitor any airborne hazard.
Personnel
involved in earth-moving operations wear respirators and
re
.
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The effectiveness of this extremely conservative approach
toward sampling the radiological environment and controlling
exposure to it is borne out by actual radiological exposure
Gata over the first year of operations.
wr
from per-
Pee
samples are collected
a
Urine
sonnel who have worked on the controlled islands to monitor
for possible internal plutonium contamination.
.
protective clothing.
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.
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