UNITED STATES
ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
20545
BAR 24 1972
To Files
he
MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR WILLIAMS ON REHABILITATION
OF ENIWETOK ATOLL
On March 16, 1972, Dr. Martin 8. Biles, Mr. Roger Ray of NV, and I met
with Ambassador Franklin Williams, the President's personal representative
for Micronesion Status Negotiations, and members of his staff to discuss
the rehabilitation of Eniwetok Atoll. Also attending were representatives
of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA).
Ambassador Williams stated that he and his staff are preparing for the
next session of status negotiations for the Trust Territory on April 2,
1972, and are studying the position to be taken on Eniwetok Atoll. They
most desire to avoid any confrontation with the Eniwetok people at this
time,
Considering that military requirements for use of the Atoll will be ended
with completion of the PACE experiments, a series of high explosives tests
on islands near former nuclear test sites, Williams was considering the
possibility of an immediate return of a portion of the islands in the Atoll
that had not been used by DOD and which were largely unaffected by past
nuclear tests. In any event, Williams would like to announce that Eniwetok
Atoll was to be returned to the former residents at the April 2 meeting.
The AEC representatives reviewed past experience with Bikini Atoll and the
considerations, decisions, and actions that lie behind the judgment that
the Bikini people could be safely returned to their homeland. The potential
problems with radioactive scrap material and contaminated soil in and around
craters on certain islands at Eniwetok was discussed. Roger Ray who had
recently visited Eniwetok reported on the large quantities of scrap metal
some of it containing induced radioactivity, seen in that Atoll.
Compared
to Bikini, the job of cleanup was estimated to be much bigger and more
costly.
We also discussed the lack of current monitoring data for all of
Eniwetok Atoll and the time and expense required to obtain this information.
AEC representatives stated that possibly the dollars required for the radiological survey of Eniwetok, about $150,000 to $200,000, could be provided
within current budget limitations by reprogramming projects, but funds
for the large cost of cleanup, which may run from two to five million
dollars depending on actions needed, are not available. Representatives
of DNA stated they could be the lead agency for cleanup operations as
was DASA (JTF-8) for Bikini, but they could not provide the money from