Radiological assessments for resettlement of Rongelap in the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Technical Report · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:353360

The Committee on Radiological Safety in the Marshall Islands was established by the National Research Council in response to a request from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to assist the department in evaluating radiological conditions on certain atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, especially Rongelap Atoll. The need stems from the provisions of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) established between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the US in 1992. That agreement sets out criteria and stipulations pertaining to the resettlement of Rongelap Atoll. The issue of resettlement itself originated in the desire for the people of the Marshall Islands to return to the atolls from which they were evacuated as a consequence of nuclear-weapons testing by the US during the 1940s and 1950s. The National Research Council was asked to review the scientific studies undertaken by the US Department of Energy to determine if reliable and modern scientific methodology was being used to assess the potential hazard, if any, to persons who might return to live on Rongelap Atoll. A crucial provision of the MOU is that resettlement will occur only if no person returning to Rongelap and substituting on a native-foods-only diet will receive a calculated annual whole-body radiation dose equivalent of more than 100 mrem above background. The MOU also presents an action level of 17 pCi/g for the concentration of transuranic contamination, i.e., plutonium and americium, in soils below which mitigation will be considered unnecessary.

• Research Organization: National Research Council, Committee on Radiological Safety in the Marshall Islands, Washington, DC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG05-92EH89138
• OSTI ID: 353360
• Report Number(s): DOE/EH/89138--T1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
DOSE EQUIVALENTS
FALLOUT
GAMMA RADIATION
LAND RECLAMATION
MARSHALL ISLANDS
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION HAZARDS