that there is no potential for exposure of the residents of the Atoll once
cleanup has been completed.
This is then the objective for cleanup.
Recommmendations which follow will treat the questions of how to approach
recovery of quantities of finely divided plutonium in the form of contaminated
soil, contaminated scrap, and the pieces of plutonium metal where they have
been found to occur.
Appendix III of this repoft contains guidance on
decisions to be made on whether removal of plutonium contaminated soil is
justified on various islands.
It is the view of the Task Groupthat as a
minimum, cleanup must accomplish the recovery of the plutonium in the form of
contaminated materials, soil and scrap, from the various islands including
buried scrap.
To maintain control of the materials and minimize the spread
of contamination, the recovery operations should utilize as few stocxpiles
as necessary.
YVONNE may be a suitable site for such a stockpile until
proper disposal is accomplished.
YVONNE is still under quarantine placed
in effect in May 1972, as a result of an AEC survey that indicated pieces
of metal containing milligrams quantities of 23954 were on cr near the
surface of the island.
It is the hope of the Task Group that deliberation and decisions on
disposal of plutonium contaminated soil and scrap will not delay other cleanup
and rehabilitation actions.
As for considering disposal, there appear to be two possibilities:
- 1. Disposal wherein there is an irrevocable commitment of the
contaminant to the environment.
2. Disposal wherein, with some difficulty, a later decision could
change the method of disposal.
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