: 5 toe “1 yp* ° ce ra ae deed a . Cd ; gt. ed: aie preps io aa . > . vats + * he Lag ene Reale a os EE & ae ee. fee v'« f: 7 ey ' c~ x ws aes Rae ra me oa ‘ —_ = pan | ~— — -- rl ee siaaai val . See * 3 - iia 7 agrettlllaaaal maeel ~ Po Seeal —— " ir eeeeae semen ri Pad ee sannfintel See egndne “aT — w ae OPE already moved back to the southern islands. which the Agency calls ‘relatively uncontaminated.”’ Meanwhile. the Department of Energy says the atoll’s northern islands—where the majonty of the 43 nuclear tests occurred—should be off limits for at least 30 years, since radiation levels are still high there. Because of the Department ruling, millions of dollars have been spent on building houses and community facilities and on The Enewetak people have an in- tense desire to return home, after 33 years on tiny Ujelang Atoll. And on the basis of this information. the Enjebi people voted to return to their island in the north. But the objectiv- ity of the study conducted by Bender and Brill, whose base is the government-funded Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been questioned. Dr. Rosalie Berell, a consultant to the Division of Stan- replanting dard Setting for the Nuclear Regu- thousands of coconut trees in the southern islands: but no funds have been used to rehabilitate the northem islands. This has caused problems among the Enewetak people as. traditionally. they are divided into two distinct groups: the Dri-Enjebi in the northern and Dri-Enewetak in the south. Accustomed to their own chiefs and land, the Dri-Enjebi are reluctant to live on another chief's land. In September 1979, the radiological information about Enewetak was presented by the Department of Energy to the people. Michael] Bender and Bertrand Brill, two scientists hired by Micronesian Legal Services then testified that their study showed all the islands to be safe for habitation, including northern Enjebi Island. The chancesof adverse effects were so small, they had concluded, that ‘‘cancer mortality in the lifetime of the population is estimated to be less than a single case.’’5 They asserted that the Department of Energy overstated the nsk: ‘DOE tends to exaggerate the problem,”’ said Micronesian Legal Service Director Ted Mitchell.¢ latory Commission, said of the study: so a - ae aT Sere, Me Brookhaven researchers assess U.S. government data... . The history of the U.S. testing program was one of repeated mistakes and miscalculations.”" In his view, ‘‘nongovernment radiation experts” should be included in all such surveys.® A May 1979 General Accounting Office report cautioned that “‘because of uncertainty of the long term effects of exposure to low level radi- ation. it is possible that the people of namely that induction of cancer is Enewetak could recetve doses in excess of current standards.” It also urged an independent assessment of Enewetak by “experts who have no direct connections with the nuclear testing program or the Enewetak lastic anemia. premature aging. benign tumors and other such dis- report wasinitially withheld from the Marshall Islands government for They ‘reduced’ the radiation dose of the inhabitants of Enjebi by averaging in the population less exposed. This ts like telling one team of Japanese scientists invited by Marshall Islands leaders to investigate the radiation problems in 1971, the United States has stead- **The population of Enewetak has the nght to knowthat a value judg- ment has been madefor them. their only concern. They may, if informed about hypothyroidism, ap- cleanup project .. . before resettlement of the people begins..°? This orders, make a different judgment. political reasons. Since deporting an independent member of a family his or her nsk of lung cancer is lowered if the other nonsmoking membersof the family are included and an ‘average’ nsk given. It is a scientifically ndiculous approach to public health. Basing a resettlement decision af- fecting the lives of 500 people on the Bender and Brill inadequate health assessment would be extremely 1m- prudent.”’’ fastly refused to allow independent monitoring of the Marshallese people and their environment. President Lyndon Johnson announced in 1968 that Bikini—site of 23 bombtests—would be returned to its people, who had been living in exile since 1946. In 1969, the Atomic Energy Com- mission said: “‘[there is] virtually no radiation left on Bikini"’ and “‘the exposures to radiation of the Bikini Glen Alcalay, a former Peace people do not offer a significant threat to their health and safety.”!° said the problem is ‘‘the inherent A small-scale cleanup and reconflict of interest in having habilitation program was begun and Corps Volunteer in the Marshalls. December 1980 The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 25 eR