Background and Policy Input of Bair Committee, Team of Experts to Interpret Field Radiation and Radioactivity Measurements, on Enewetak Cleanup

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Subject: Background and Policy Input of Bair Committee The basic concept for a team of experts, such as the Bair Committee, is contained in the AEC Task Group Report as follows: “A team of experts should be assembled who can make and interpret field radiation and radioactivity measurements, advise on cleanup actions envolving plutonium and other radionuclides, and provide necessary health physics support including protection of workers, decontamination of workers and equipment, and packaging and handling of collected contaminated materials. A Public Health ..... Enewetak Cleanup.” During a symposium held at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) in late June i977, the participants - a group of concerned but unnamed engineers and scientists - questioned the AEC cleanup criteria and the method of disposal of contaminated soil. The Manager, ERDANVOO, provided this information to the Assistant Administrator for Environment and Safety by letter 6 July 1977 which suggested that a critical review of the AEC cleanup guidance and proposed disposal method for contaminated soil be made. As a result, a group of -eminent scientists met at ERDA sentatives to review the potential problems. The general consensus was agreement in principal with what had been proposed. As an outgrowth of this review, the Enewetak Advisory Group (Bair Committee after the appointed Chairman) was formed by ERDA, Division of Operational and Environmental Safety during the spring of 1978. The

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formation of the advisory group was of particular importance in the spring of 1978. The 1974 cleanup guidance and planning was based on the hazards of plutonium in soil. However, in 1978, the overall concern for transuranium contamination had become more significant based on EPA guidance under developnational standard on exposures to transuranium elements in the report of one of the first advisory group meetings established detail the criteria for the case-by-case cleanup where conconcentrations were within the 40 to 400 pCi/g range. For a complete file which shows the charter, the findings and reports of each meeting of the advisory committee, contact should be made with Dr. Bruce Wachholtz, Division of Operational and Environmental Safety, DOE. A list of appropriate references is attached, all of which should

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1. Reportby the AEC Task Group on Recommendationsfor Cleanupand for Environmentand Safety,ERDA, dated 6 July 1977 with E closure. to M.G. Shedd,DDOA, DNA dated 23 August 1977. DOE, Divisionof Operationaland EnvironmentalSafety,to Divisionof Operationaland EnvironmentalSafety,DOE, dated 28 April 1978.

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Divisionof Operationaland EnvironmentalSafety,DOE, dated 3 May 1978. with DOE AdvisoryGroup, dated 30 August 1978. re: DOE AdvisoryGroup Trip to Enewetak,dated 16 October 1978. 12. Memo, Commentsand Recommendationsby M.I. AdvisoryGroup as a result