‘1 ,, ., .! ~““-f+=~~ ““” ‘“””-”; ‘““ ‘ ., ,. -11- Misconceptions The Marshallese the compensation about The Lucky Dragon and others seem to have a mistaken understanding about qiven the 23 Japanese fishermen aboard the Lucky Dragon that was in an area about 85 miles east of Bikini as the Bravo test detonated (1, 3). The boat appears to have been close to the center of the fallout pattern for the men and the surfaces of the boat received a covering of fallout material. Although the men began to suspect what the material might be, they knew nothing of decontamination back to Japan. procedures and were exposed for 14 days during the voyage Within two days after docking, news of their exposure became an international concern. The men were soon diagnosed as suffering from radiation sickness and hospitalized. of a complicating May 10, 1955. One man died six months later (Sept. 23, 1954) infectio~s hepatitis while the remainder were discharged on The radiation doses to the men could not be computed. When it was found that fish in the hold of the Lucky Dragon were also contaminated and that fish being sold on the markets in .Japanese cities were contaminated with radioactivity, affected. the Pacific Ocean fishing industry was severely The Japanese were especially affected as much of the protein in tfieir diet cocces from the sea. Although the Bravo detonation probably contributed most of the radioactivity detected at that time, it came to be recognized that other tests may have contributed fission productions and radionuclides reaching people via the sea-plankton-fish-man sequence. that were