16 



Background Information on Formerly Used 



Defense Sites Containing Radiation 



in Alaska 



August 25, 1992 



PROJECT CHARIOT/CAPE THOMPSON 



Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Federal Facilities/Contaminated 

 Sites section, received a report this week from Cook Inlet Vigil which contained several 

 memos from 1962 and 1963. The memos descritje and discuss the burial of 

 approximately 43 pounds of radioactive isotopes, including fallout from nuclear testing 

 in Nevada at Cape Thompson during Project Chariot. The isotopes were placed in 10 

 experimental plots and water applied in order to conduct a hydrological study by the 

 United States Geological Survey agency for the Atomic Energy Commission. After the 

 study the contaminated soil was buried under four feet of soil in the Snowbank Creek 

 drainage in an area which appears to be approximately 3000 feet from the Chuckchi 

 Sea. The area is used as a subsistence area for the villages of Point Hope and 

 Kivalina. 



The site is classified as a DERP-FUD (formally used defense site) and as such is the 

 responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps has been contacted and 

 they will contact ADEC regarding their plans for removal. ADEC has informally 

 expressed their desire for an emergency removal. Further research will center on the 

 degree of risk posed by the isotopes and more specific information regarding the 

 location of the burial. For more information contact Laura Noland (907) 451-2139. 



FORT GREELY 



The repair to the building attached to the SMI -A nuclear reactor commenced the week 

 of August 17. The contractor has begun the excavating process to remove part of the 

 existing slab in preparation for pouring the new cantilevered retaining wall. According 

 to John Davis, the radiation monitoring contractor, slightly elevated levels of 

 radioactivity were recorded in the excavated soil. This may incur storage and 

 shipment of over 300 drums of radioactive waste to the Lower 48. For more 

 information contact Ron Short (907) 451-2156. 



(CO<omm\d«<sitM.51 ) 



