LI07564 PB83-204Z2= Evaluation of Enewetak Radioactivity Containment National Research Council, Washington, DC . Prepared for Defence Nuclear Agency, Washington, DC Mar 82 EM3TCOPYAV BLE ‘>, I ,—. .,.’-_.. .— _— . .—. 1.—.. — : . .- . ..-. -—— 4=. .-.--r.:.—------------ ..- “~- Z.=2.L=>2 Z -=.=------- ---- r NOTKE: Tho project that ia the subject of this report waa a * ro&d by the Governing Board of the National Research ColWcil, wt.JaE ~s are drawn from the COuncilu of the National tiemy of Sciencts, tbe National Academy of Engineering, and the Instituteof Medicin!). The members of the comittee responsible for the re~rt were chos (m fix their special qtences and with regard for appropriate bali ,11~. ‘rtiis report has been reviewed by ● group other then the a ,tborn according to procedures approved by a Report ~iew ~ittee consLs- ting of members of the National ~demg of Sciences, the Nati mlal Academy of engineering, and the Instituteof Nadicine. ‘WE NATIONAL RESEARCHCOUNCIL was aatabliabedby the Nati(d Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad ~nity cf sci~e and technology with the Aca~emy’s pu~e of furtheringknowl~dge and of advising the federal government. ‘f33eCouncil operates in wi*A general policies determined by the Acadq under the au its Congressionalcharter of 1863, which establishesthe Acad private, nonprofit, self-governing ~rship corporation. has becoae the principal operating agemcy of both the Mationa: Acmdw of Sciences and the National Acadw of ~gineering in the corduct of their services to the gwernment, the pblic, and the scienti engineering couazunities. It is administeredjointly by both and the Instituteof Medicine. The National Academy of Engin the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, zeapec- tively, under the charta of the National.Academyof Sciences. THE COMMISSION ON SOCIOTECENICAL BYBTR4B is one of the ma r com- ponents of the Nations& Research Council and has general res Sibf.lity for the cognizance over those program areas concernedwith ph ical, technological,and i~dustrial systems that are or may be depl ad in the public or private sector to serve societalneeds. f THE ADVISORY BOARD OH THE BUXLT ENVTRONNENTis that unit the Cormaisaionon SociotechnicalSystems which focuseson those s er~tific and technologicalissues that are critical to tbe lmprwement f national policies and programs for the built environment. f TMs report was prepared under contract number DNAO02-80-C-001 between the National Academy of Sciences and tbe Defense Nuciear Agent . Rx informationregarding this docueentp write the Executive D rector, Advisory Board on the Built Environment,National Research Coutcil. 2101 ConstitutionAvenue, N.W., ?lashingtonvD.C. 20418. I coNTEm3- Page COMMI~ ON EVALUATION OF ~ RADIOACTMTY CONTAIN’@== w ADvISORY BOARD ON TNE BUILT ~ vi vii PRBPACE Chapter 1--SQNMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1 1.1 The Containm ,ntStructure 1 1.2 Related I!!JSUeS 2 Chapter 2-BACKGROUND 3 2.1 Nature of tbe Islands 3 2.2 Normal Econw.y 3 2.3 Bnewetak Atall 3 2.4 The Rmwetak people 6 2.5 Weapons Testing 6 2.6 References 8 Chapter 3--TNE cmANDP 9 3.1 Cleanup Proposals 9 3.2 cleanup Criteria 9 3*3 Disposal OptiOnS M 3.4 Radioactive contaminants 10 3.5 Location of the contamination 11 3.6 Nature of the Problem U 3.7 Safety of Operators IL 3.8 cactus Crater 3.2 3.9 Filling of the crater ls 3.10 References 17 chanter 4—DESCRIPTION OF TEE ~ STR~ 19 4.1 General Observations 19 4.2 The Drilling Program u 4.3 Radioactive Contents 21 4.4 References 23 iii EVALUATION OF BNE??ETNCRADIOACTIVITYCONTAINMENT Camittee on Evaluation of Znewatak Radioactivity CQntaimt Advisory Board on the Built ~vironmexk -ission on SociotachnicalSystems National Research Ouncil NATIONAL AcADm4Y PRBSS Wask<ngton, D.C. 1982 Amoouc[o BY NATIONAL TECHNICAL m 10 R&d DOCUMENTATION L ss~ ~. 2 > -low PAGE Pfq Llltla●ndSUM*IQ Saomltl March Evaluationof Enewetak RadioactivityContainment s I ‘.mahwm Advisory Boar Evaluationof Enewetak RadioactivityContainment ).xwwmlnsqn~ Mama●dMdN,8 National Research ‘onthe’ui’t’~Council I Advisory Board on the Built Environment llL- 2101 ConstitutionAvenue (W DNAO Washington,DC 20418 (a Defense Nuclear Agency Fins 6801 Telegraph Road I& Alexandria,VA 22310 1--- 1s.Supphwltalyw \, W. A&tnd(l.imk2Ca -md8) Between 1948 and 1958 the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands w the site CIf43 nuclear explosions,part of the government’snuclear testing program. spossdingta t~ demands of the Enewetak people, the government in 1972 decided to rehab itate-the atolG- In the cleanup process, radiologicallycontaminatedsoil and debris frc Ulariyof the atoll’s <:;landswere placed in a massive, domed concrete containment st et-e buil= one of the bomb craters on Runit Island. In order to provide the peopl of ‘3ewe* ti , the MarshalleseCoverrment with an objective assessment of the nontainn t Suxucture’s EnviLzzonm~o~ safety, the Defense Nuclear Agency asked the AdvisoryBoard on the Buil i the National Research Council to study the matter. The committee appoi ed ED condocz the study concentratedon two issues: (1) the potential hazard of tr~ ran&s ~ ~ I transportedto the surrounding environmentfrom the structure, and (2) e possible 1 sequence of events that would affect the structure’sphysical integrit~ and the radio— ~ active hazards that would result from preachmentof the dome. ~The comn tee’s report concludes that the containment structureuresents no health hazard to t :Enewetak ~=~ ~ now or In the future. The committee went on to recommend periodic ins~ tion of tbe dome. Runit Island, on which the dome is situz~ed,was found to be un~ e draeto ‘h.@iLT [ toxic plutoniumparticles in the soil and was placed off-limits foreve] In additina, : the committee examined the possible radiation hazard on nearby Enjebi I and. a po=tiaSZ ~ 17. OOwmmt An81ySls a On@pmfS re: .tlennentsize. nuclear weapons, nuclear testing program,-radiologicalcleanup, radioat .vity. tr~ uranics, plutonium,nuclear hazards, nuclear waste containment structu] b. ldMUfhtl/O~Twms DNA, Enewetak Atoll, Marshall I:lands, Cactus Crater, Runit Island, En: ~i Island, 33E c. cosm F&ld/Omtv - :This report has been approved for xL-orm its distribution is unlimited 1 lzRk8 ~= —.-.—. — –.- I I Chapter 5—BAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITS TEE - 2s 5.1 Function of the Dome 25 5.2 Radionuclides in the Dome 25 5.3 Transuranics in the SurroundingEnvironment 26 5.4 Comparisons with Other Locations 27 5.5 Transuranics in Marine Foods 27 5.6 Dome Preachment 2s 5.7 Eazards Associated with Leaching from the Cent mment Structure 29 5.8 Hazards Associated with Breachhg of the Conta unent Structure 31 5.9 SlulmlarY 32 5.10 References 33 Chapter 6-—(XEER ISSUES 35 6.1 Runit Island 35 6.2 Enjebi Island 36 6.3 References 37 APPENDIX A ESTIMATED 30-YEAR INTXRAL MX3E VS. RATE OF REMO1 L12ATIOM 39 APPENDIX B BIOGRAPHICAL S=!W:.YS OF COMMITTEE ~ . 41 iv —_... .. ... .... CHI= ON EVALUATION OF BNEWETM mIoAcTIVITY a Chairman ROBERT W. MORSE, Woods F.oleoceanographic Institution, Node )le, Massachusetts ?4embeZ? JOHN P. GNAKDINGER, Soil Testing Services, me., N@hbrook, .linoti STEPHEN M. KIM, RMC Technical Services, Radiation Management )rporation8 Philadelphia PeKuM@V8nia COLIN A. MAWSON, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada WILLIAM F. MERRITT, Health Sciences Division, Chalk River Nu !ar Lahoratories, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada FRANK L. PETERSON , Department of @ology and cieophysics,uni n)ityof HawaSi, Honolulu JOHN H. WIGGINS, Jr., J. H. Wiggins Caspac Redondo Beach, .ifornia ALFRED A. YEE, Alfred A. Yee and Aasooiates, Inc., Honolulu, waii ABBE Staff JAMES R. SMITH, Principal Staff Officer DAVID STARK, Consultant CLARET H. HEIDER, Editorial Consultant DELPHINE D. GLAZE, Administrative Secretary BETTY LOU WELIS, Secretary v I i. ADVISORY BOARD ON THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT I 1981-82 Chairman PHILIP G. RMBSHR~ Palm Harbor, Plorida kkmbess-— WERNBR A. BAUM, College of Arts and Sciences, P1OCMS State m Je r.city, Tallahassee RICHARD BZNDZR, College of EnvironmentalDesign, university of >lifornia, Berkeley WXLLIAM S. BIRJIEY,United States Steel Corporation,Washingtm, D.C. JAMHS M. ~t School of Law, George wasb~ton university, Wmibi~, D-C. G. DAY D=, Small Homes--Building Research council, University of Illinois. Urbana-champsign PAUL C. GRBINER, Bdison Electric Institute,washington~ D.C. LAWREKH E. EINKLE, M.D., New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Cester, Saw Y~k ROBHRr C. HOLLAND, Coassitteefor Economic Development,Washingtcn , D.C. JOHN C. HORNIZW, General Electric Company, Schenectady,New Yorh GEORGH S. JHNKINS, Consultation Networks Inc., Washington, D.C. OLIVHR H. JONES, Oliver Jones and Aasoc<ates,Manns Choice, P&msylvania JOHN T. JdYCB, InternationalUnion of Bricklayers and xllied Cra lt~< Washington, D.C. STANISLAV V. KASL, Department of Epidemiologyand public Health Yale University,New Haven, Connecticut MJRTZMHR H. MARSHALL, Jr., Reston, Virginia lU3BHRTP. WARSHALL, Jr., Turner ConstructionCompanyl New York, kw York GKQRIA S. NcGREGOR, Coamunity Facilities Department, Internati-L 1 wgy ~~ *n n~cis=, California MELVIN A. MISTER, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Washington, D.C. C. E. (TE) PHCK, Tbe Rybnd Group, Inc., Columbia, Maryland L. R. S“wiPPER, U.S. Army Construction EngineeringResearch Labor2tory, Champaign, Illinois ARTHUR C. STHRN, Department of EnvironmentalSciences and -i neering, Universityof North Carolina, Chapel Hill WARRHN H. TuRNPiRrAmerican Telephone and Telegraph Capany, ESsking Ridge, New Jersey SHIRLEY P. WEISS, Department of City and Regional Planning, Tbe Cliversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill JONN l?.WIGGINS, Jr., J. H. Wiggins Company, Redondo Beach, cali rn.ia vi I .. ..%*-.”, - .. .. y, $’:i 4 Liaison Representatives LEE S. GARRETT, Arlington, Virginia MAXINE SAVITZ, Deputy As8i8tant Secretary for Conservation, Of Cite of Comervation and Solar ~ergy, Department of Energy, Washi igton, D.C. RICEARD N. WRIGNT, Director, Center fOr Building Technology, N 1tional Bureau of Standarda, Washington, D.C. Ex-officic$ JOSXPE ii.ZEITEL, Kastern Solar Utilization Network, Portland, Oregon vii =nPR?ktW’%”...,-,, ....-..-” ., .,.._, ,. PREFACE Betu-en 1948 and 1958 Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands a used for u.S.