or. Berpert Vetter.
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™
June 22,. 1979wo, ore a
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Page two
‘Cleanup and rehabilitationof Bikins began in 1969
in preparation for resettlement, and the AEC continued to
woniter Bikini's safety. One AEC official .tated in 1969
that "there is: virtually ino radiation left, and we can find
no Giscernable effect on eitheri plantor: animal life.*
In
1971, the Director of AEC's Division of Operational Safety
reported that well water: samples had been:taxen from several
locations on Bikini Island over.a period gf time and” that,
"from& radiological viewpoint, the water:‘ie safe to Grink.*
: Despite these: assurances, the: Bikinians expressed
increasing concern over the atoll's safety, and in 1975 they
sreught @ court action to seekahorder directing the United
States te conduct a thorough radiglogical survey of the atoll
to measure. and assess,its safety:
In the court complaint, ths
Bikinians ‘openly concededtheir ignorance as ‘to Bi
‘s eafety:
eS2 us to nake an intelligent decision té
* Yesettle Bikini Atoll, 'we must be able to
*weigh
our desire and return against the
Fadioclogical risks or returning.
. We have |
mot been pripvided with that’ informetion
. in a form that we can understand. *
After severalyears: of: litigation and settlement discussions,
the United States agreed te conduct a thorough radiol
cal
study, including aeriel radiation surveys and: terrestrial and
marine studies, of Bikini and: thirteen other islands amd atolis
in the northern Marshall Islands that received fallout fron
one or more of the ‘U.S. nuclear tests in ithe Pacific.
‘The survey: yas conducted in. late 1978, and some of the
results from: the aerial surveys have been released.
Before the
Survey WAS even conducted, however, medical examinations conducted in April, 1978:o0n the: 14s people 'who had been mowed back
to Bikind in the early 1970's showed body burdens so high that
it was necessary to move them’off Bikini Island.
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' Based on these medical examinations and preliminary
results from. the radiological survey, the United State has
announced that Bikini; Island will be off 2imits for habitation
or agricultural use for approximately 60 years and that Enau
isiand dn Bikini Atoll} will be off limits for at leaat 20-25
youars.
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the Bikiniabs, who!are confused by the conflicting
information they: have ‘received over the years, do not under-
stand oy earlier surveys ofBikini. were ‘axrpneous.
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ot
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They