Enewetak Return, Various Locations Part 1

Description

OF STATE FILM RELEASE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (PUBLIC AFFAIRS) UNITED STATES of AMERICAN WASHINGTON, D.C. . 20301 PLEASE NOTE DATE IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 7, 1980 OXford 7-6161 Release #17-80 Footage: 207' 16mm Color Print Room 2E773 Time: 5:45 484XXX 102204 ENEWETAK RETURN 101991 (Defense Nuclear Agency film released by Department of Defense) DATE/PLACE: This footage was shot from May 1977 to April 1980. SCOPE: Coverage shows the major activities that occurred from May 1977 to April 1980 as part of the Enewetak Cleanup and Rehabilitation Project. BACKGROUND: The United States announced in 1972 that it no longer had a need to use the Enewetak Atoll for defense purposes and it would commence necessary measures to enable the People to return. Congress appropriated the necessary funds and directed the use of military personnel to accomplish the cleanup of the radioactive soil and debris and non-contaminated debris that had accumulated as a result of World W II battles and the nuclear testing. Several years of detailed planning, with the active participation of the Enewetak Planning Council, preceded the start of the project in May 1977. The three-year, 100 million dollar cleanup and rehabilitation project at Enewetak Atoll will officially end at a Return Ceremony on April 8th. Officials from the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Interior will join with the People of Enewetak in celebrating the return of the atoll to the People after it's use by the United States for nuclear weapons tests. 43 nuclear tests were conducted at Enewetak after the People were relocated to Ujelang Atoll, 125 miles to the south. The successful cleanup and rehabilitation fulfills a promise by the United States that the homeland of the People of Enewetak would be returned in a habitable condition. The film shows the Department of Energy (DoE) operations to precisely locate and measure the radioactivity in the soil on the northern islands of Enewetak where nuclear tests were conducted. Army Engineers scraped away the contaminated soil located by the DOE technicians. After a six inch cut was removed, DOE re-measured and more soil was removed until the area was free of contamination. The Navy operated a fleet of boats that moved the contaminated soil from the controlled islands to Runit Island where the contaminated debris was stockpiled. Airsamplers employed downwind from workers on the Navy boats determined if there was any airborne radioactive particles. The soil was processed at at atch plant operation on Runit Island. It was sifted and mixed cement. Trucks took the mixture to a crater formed by the nuclear -MORE-

Collection

Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer

Series

Filmed News Releases