Enewetak Atoll--Cleaning Up Nuclear Contamination

In 1972, the United States announced it was prepared to release Enewetak Atoll to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands assuming it would eventually be cleaned up and resettled. This project is underway and is expected to be completed in 1980 at a cost of $100 million to $105 million.

If the United States accomplishes all of its objectives for cleaning up the Atoll, the Enewetak people must not either knowingly or unintentionally violate U.S.-recommended living pattern restrictions if they are to avoid overexposure to radiation. As the time for resettlement approaches, the people are less willing to defer, perhaps for as long as 100 years, establishing residences on Enewetak's second largest island until certain radioactive elements no longer pose a radiation hazard. Unsettled test-related issues which remain could result in difficulties for the United States if not resolved soon. These issues include, loss of land, loss of land use, loss of cash crops, radiological monitoring, and the possibility that recommended living pattern restrictions will not be observed. Significant radiological aspects of the project have not been independently assessed.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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