4.
MEETING THE PROTECTION STANDARDS
Operationally,
Standards:
(a)
there are three ways to meet the radiation protection
decay
of
reduce
the
uptake of cesium-137 by food plants; (c) Remove the contaminated soil.
In
radionuclides
the
can
following,
we
Delay
resettlement so
reduce contamination;
first
note
the
that
(b)
options
spontaneous
Treat the
under
soil
each
to
approach
and
then
continental.
U.S.
compare effectiveness, cost, and time required for execution.
The
estimates
of
cost
in
1984
dollars
are
based
experience and especially on the experience of the Army Corps of Engineers
in the
Pacific.
without
They assume that work on an
construction
resources,
employing
isolated, uninhabited atoll |
imported
cost 2.4 times as much aS on the continental
U.S.
U.S.
personnel,
will
Such costs might be
materially reduced by the extent to which a Marshallese work force could be
employed and locally available equipment from Kwajalein or Majuro
miles
away)
could
be
employed.
The
staging
costs,
(250-500
nonetheless,
would
probably be relatively high.
Of the 13 islands that do not meet the federal
are potentially in need of decontamination
are them are larger than 25 hectares
(Table
standard and therefore
6),
only three of them
(1-hectare = 2.47 acres) -- Bikini
(240 ha), Enedrik (96 ha), and Nam (54 ha).
The levels of contamination on
Bikini and Nam are relatively high, that on Enedrik appears marginal.
Only
Bikini, however, is physically suitable for settlement (Appendix A).
4.1
Delay Resettlement
BB
The simplest technical
decay
of
29 years)
cesium-137
decontaminates
objective can
doing
(half-life,
nothing
the
that
it
30
years)
soil.
be achieved over a
is
approach is to wait until
In
period
costs
the
and
strontium-90
case
of
Bikini
of 80 years.
little
or
nothing
disadvantage is that the Bikinians are deprived of the
land for 80 years.
9000027
~
There are two variations of this plan.
29
the spontaneous
The
(half-life,
Island,
advantage
directly.
the
of
The
use of their home