Enewetak Radiological Support Project Final Report

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"This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof." This report has been reproduced indirectly from the best available copy. Available from the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, Price: Printed Copy A29 Codes are used for pricing all publications. The code is determined by the number of pages in the publication. Information pertaining to the pricing codes can be found in the current issues of the following publications, which are generally available in most libraries: Energy Research Abstracts (ERA); Government Reports Announcements and Index (GRA and I); Scientific and Technical Abstract Reports (STAR); and publication NTIS-PR-360, available from NTIS at the above address.

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This final report thoroughly documents the technical and logistic accomplishments of the Enewetak Radiological Support Project. The reader will readily recognize the magnitude and significance of the effort. This document duly recognizes all aspects of the project except one, possibly the most important though not so obvious to the casual reader. This was truly a cohesive scientific "expedition" because of the achievements, both personal and collective, of all the participants from a variety of governmental and private agencies. Particularly impressive to visitors at Enewetak was the ability of this group of scientists, technicians and support personnel to work in an environment relatively hostile to the required sophisticated technology. Despite adverse conditions, this team collected samples of soil, performed radiochemical analyses on the samples, applied statistical analysis to the data, interpreted the results and provided guidance to the Joint Task Group virtually overnight so that the daily activities for removal of contaminated soil could continue. This concerted effort under the leadership of the Nevada Operations Office is remarkable; its absence would have severely hampered the accomplishments detailed in this report. Manager, Environment, Health and Safety Research Battelle - Pacific Northwest Laboratory

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The work reported here may be said with some precision to have had its inception in September, 1975 with an agreement between the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), committing ERDA to provide technical support to DNA in the cleanup of Enewetak. But in truth the effort had become an inevitable moral obligation of the United States many years earlier, in 1947, when the People of Enewetak were persuaded to leave their homeland to make way for our nation's atmospheric nuclear test activities. It might be said to have begun in April 1972 when Ambassador Franklin Haydn Williams and High Commissioner Edward E. Johnston promised the return of Enewetak to the administration of the Trust Territory. Or it might be said to have begun at Enewetak on May 20th, 1972, on the occasion of the first visit of the Enewetak leadership to their home atoll after 26 years away. On that latter occasion, Enewetak Magistrate Smith Gideon closed a four-day conference by saying to the United States officials, "We know that your people are going to help in cleaning up the place and preparing for our return to our It was five years later that the mobilization for the cleanup occurred, and work began in earnest to prepare for the return. The intervening time had been used in surveying, establishing criteria, obtaining Congressional authorization and funding, planning, acquiring resources and developing equipment and techniques. Radiological support to the cleanup was assigned as a m1ss1on to the ERDA Nevada Operations Office, which formed a project team known as the Enewetak Radiological Support Project (ERSP). For the most part, this is the report of that Project from its first authorization on February 23, 1977, to the completion of the cleanup. At this writing the ERSP remains in being on at least an informal basis, and will until this report goes to press. A few brief words about the role of the ERSP are in order. The key word in the Project name is support. The Project Manager and his several Deputies did not direct the atoll cleanup action. They recommended, advised and assisted Department of Defense officials in carrying out the Congress' mandate for the cleanup. The Project takes full responsibility for its advice and recommendations, but often the decisions of the Director, DNA, the Commander, Field Command or the Commander of the Joint Task Group necessarily took into account overriding considerations of a non-technical nature. In these cases it was the responsibility of the ERSP Manager to define and articulate alternatives and their likely consequences and then to fully support the decisions and actions of the DOD. Another function which the ERSP did not perform was the establishment of criteria and standards. These were given to us in guidance received from AEC, ERDA, and later, DOE Headquarters. The ERSP management team interpreted these criteria and standards in terms suitable for direction of the field effort. A special note of acknowledgement is due Bert Friesen, who served as Editor and a major contributor to this volume. The other members of the ERSP team are acknowledged and credited as appropriate elsewhere in this report. I feel confident that I speak for all of them in observing that it has been a rare privilege and a stimulating challenge to be a part of so unique a project of such high importance to so deserving a group of people. We wish the People of Enewetak health, prosperity, happiness and peace in their ancestral home. Roger Ray, Project Manager Enewetak Radiological Support Project Nevada Operations Office

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Jobs are done by people; difficult jobs require special people with interest and dedication a cut above the normal work-a~ay world. Planning, execution, and wrap-up of the Enewetak Radiological Support Project involved two categories of special people: those who put in a tour of duty on Enewetak Atoll, and those who performed their duties without the opportunity to participate first hand in this unique experience. Duty rosters maintained duri~ cleanup on Atoll list all of the following individuals as participants in the Enewetak Radiological Support Project. To these special people, and the organizations they represented, we express deepest thanks for a difficult job done wel1 We wish also to acknowledge, with a special "thank you," the many people who did what they were paid to do as a part of their job, and are not named below, without whom the task would have been vastly more difficult. For simplicity, individuals within each organization are listed in alphabetical order. Because organizations change names and people move to new jobs, we show the organization/employee relationship in effect during execution of the project. The exception to this rule is that all DOE employees are shown as DOE even though they worked for ERDA during the first few months of the Desert Research Institute PARTICIPANTS BY ORGANIZATION

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From 1972 through 1980, the Department of Energy acted in an advisory role to the Defense Nuclear Agency during planning for and execution of the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll. The Nevada Operations Office of the Department of Energy was responsible for the radiological characterization of the atoll and for certification of radiological condition of each island upon completion of the project. In-situ measurements of gamma rays emitted by americium-241 were utilized along with wet chemistry separation of plutonium from soil samples to identify and delineate surface areas requiring removal of soil. Military forces removed over 100,000 cubic yards of soil from the surface of five islands and deposited this material in a crater remaining from the nuclear testing period. Subsurface soil was excavated and removed from several locations where measurements indicated the presence of radionuclides above The methodologies of data acquisition, analysis and interpretation are described and detailed results are provided in text, figures and microfiche. The final radiological condition of each of 43 islets is reported.

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS xvii CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS xxiii CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND 1.2 SELECTION AND EVACUATION OF ENEWETAK ATOLL FOR NUCLEAR TESTING 3 1.3 ISLANDS IN THE ATOLL 5 1.4 THE TESTING PERIOD 10 1.4.2 Testing Effects on the Islands High Energy Upper Stage (HEUS) Rocket Tests Pacific Cratering Experiments (PACE) . 1.6 PHOTOGRAPHS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST CHAPTER TWO: DOE ROLE 2.1 PRE-CLEANUP EVENTS TO 15 JUNE 1977 Early Surveys and Reports AEC Task Group Report Meeting of September 1974 The DEIS and EIS Work Toward Project Approval 2.2 RESOLUTION OF ISSUES Ocean Dumping Versus Crater Entombment Plutonium Versus Total Transuranics Priority of Island Cleanup

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Planting of Coconuts Scope of DOE Responsibility ERSP Concept and Staffing ERSP Management and Planning Philosophies Typical Sequence of ERSP Radiological Surveys Operational Planning and Coordination ERSP Facilities and Logistic Support CHAPTER THREE: ON-SITE RADIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS 3.2.3 Data Reduction Procedures 3.2.6 Variables Affecting the 24 1 Am Conversion Factor 3.2.7 Other Sources of Error 3.2.9 Comparison with Soil Sample Data 3.3 SOIL SAMPLE MEASUREMENTS CHAPTER FOUR: RADIOLOGICAL LABORATORY OPERATIONS 4.1 DESCRIPTION OF FACILITIES Sample Preparation Laboratory Wet Chemistry Laboratory Instrument Maintenance Facility (IMF) Fission Product Data Base (FPDB) Program Aomon Crypt Sampling Soil Sample Data Base Additional Support Programs

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Field Soil Sampling Radioisotope Counting and Computation 4.4 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCEDURES 4.4.1 Internal Quality Control - Precision and Accuracy 4.4.2 External Quality Control - Precision and Accuracy 4.5 LOGISTICS AND MAINTENANCE Bottled Methane Gas 4.5.4 Disposal of Radioactive Wastes CHAPTER FIVE: STATISTICS AND DATA HANDLING Subsurface Characterization and Cleanup Quality Assurance Program Influence of Unique Project Aspects 5.3.2 Data Flow and Preservation 5.5 REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CHAPTER SIX: SPECIAL TOPICS 6.2 SURVEYS AND COORDINATE SYSTEMS 6.3 TRANSURANICS IN THE ENEWETAK ATOLL ENVIRONMENT 6.4.1 IMP Startup and Preliminary Surveys

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Preliminary Statistical Analyses Grid Location Problems Vegetation in the Atoll Environment Devegetation of Island Janet 6.6 PILOT SOIL REMOVAL PROJECT 6.7 PLOWING PHILOSOPHY AND EXPERIMENT 6.8 AOMON CRYPT EXPLORATION AND EXCISION 6.9 SUBSURFACE SAMPLING AND EXCISION 6.11 DOSE ASSESSMENT AND THE FISSION PRODUCT DATA BASE (FPDB) 6.11.1 Relationship Between Data Base and Dose Assessment 6.11.2 Significant Radionuclides and Exposure Pathways 6.11.4 FPDB Data Storage and Retrieval CHAPTER SEVEN: RADIOLOGICAL CONDITION OF ISLANDS 7.2.5 Other Southern Islands

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SOIL REMOVAL ISLANDS 7.6.2 Post Certification Actions D. IMP Detector History E. Radiological Aspects of OPLAN 600-77

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS Analogue Digital Converter. Atomic Energy Commission. AEC was abolished on 19 January 1975 and many functions transferred to the newly created ERDA (cf). Americium. Specifically, the isotope 241Am when the mass number is omitted. Armed Forces Radiobiology Research lnsti tute. Brush Attenuation Factor. More accurately BCF (cf). Brush Correction Factor. Factor applied to the in situ gamma measurement to adjust for the presence of vegetation in the detector field of view. Control Data Corporation. Council on Environmental Quality. Chemistry. Usually refers to the wet chemistry component of the Enewetak Radiation Laboratory complex. Curie. The quantity of any radioactive species undergoing 3. 7 x 1ol0 nuclear disintegrations per second (dis/sec>. Commander, Joint Task Group. Cobalt. Specifically the isotope 60co. Container Express. Metal shipping container with approximate dimensions 4' x 6' x 8'. Concept Plan. An information technique used within DOD to provide general guidance for justifying a proposed major project. See OPLAN. Counts per minute. Counts per second. Ca th ode Ray Tube. Cesium. Specifically the isotope 137cs. Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

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Disposition Form. A memorandum form in common use by the military. Director, Defense Nuclear Agency. Defense Nuclear Agency of the Department of Defense. U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. Department of Defense. U.S. Department of Energy (established on l October 1977; absorbed ERDA). U.S. Department of the Interior. Disintegrations per minute. Desert Research Institute. One component of the University of Nevada system. DOE technical support contractor for ERSP field measurements, Las Vegas, NV. Fherline Instrument Corporation, Santa Fe, NM. Radiological support contractor for ERSP radiation instrument maintenance and calibration and for soil sample collection Environmental Impact Statement. Explosive Ordnance Disposal. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Energy Research and Development Administration; established 19 January 1975. Initial organization of ERDA included the AEC. Formation of the DOE included ERDA. ERDA was abolished on l October 1977 when the DOE was established. Enewetak Radiological Support Project (of the U.S. Department of Energy). Europium. Specifically, the isotopes 152Eu and 155Eu. Field Command (element of DNA located at Kirtland AFB, NM). Femto curies, lo-15 curies. Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency. Field Instrument for Detection of Low Energy Radiation. Fission Product Data Base. Federal Radiation Council. Field Radiation Support Team. A military element (Air Force) of the Enewetak Joint

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Full width at half maximum. Gated Analogue Router. Ground Zero. Land surface directly beneath or at the site of a nuclear test. SGZ and AGZ occasionally used to distinguish between tests at the surface and in the air. hour, as in R/h. Holmes &: Narver, lnc., Orange, CA. Logistics and base support contractor for DNA High Efficiency Particulate Air (type of filter). Hewlett-Packard. Electronics manufacturer, including desktop computers and High Purity Germanium - crystal for detection of gamma rays (also referred to as IG) International Atomic Energy Agency. lnternational Commission on Radiological Protection. lntrinsic Germanium (detector). Also referred to as high purity germanium (HPGe) lnstrument Maintenance Facility. Not an acronym, but a trademark owned by the DeLorean Manufacturing Company. Although actually the manufacturer's name for the tracked vehicle used to house the in situ measurement equipment, this term was often used to refer to the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, DOD. Joint Task Group. Kirtland Air Force Base. Kilo electron volt. Kilotons (nuclear tests are rated in thousands of tons of TNT). Laboratory. See RADLAB. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM. Landing Amphibious Recovery Craft.

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Landing Craft, Mechanized. Landing Craft, Utility. Lower Limit of Detection. Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore, CA (became LLNL in 1980). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Military Airlift Command. Military Affiliate Radio System. Minimum Detectable Activity. Memorandum For Record. Military van. Military-owned container for transport of equipment and supplies. Micronesian Legal Services Corporation. Maximum Permissible Concentration. MPML.) Located at Enewetak, operated by the Univ. of Hawaii for the DOE. National Bureau of Standards. Nuclear Instrument Module. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nevada Test Site (of the DOE). Nevada Operations Office of the DOE (also NVO).

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Office of Management and Budget. Operations Plan. An operations plan is standard within DOD to provide specific guidance for conducting an approved major project. See CONPLAN. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. Pacific Cratering Experiments. Project included removal of soil down to coral rock in an area of 19 acres on the island of Sally. Pacific Area Support Office (of DOE/NV), Honolulu, Hawaii. Picocuries per gram. Pulse Height …