bad enough in themselves, especially since there is no known radiationspecific medication which can alleviate the effects. What is perhaps even more insidious than these effects are the long-range consequences of irradiation, both external and internal. Here, it would be well to make an important point about long-range effects of irradiation: the diseases and effects (with possible exception of genetic effects) caused by radiation are not special “radiation” diseases which did not exist before the explosion of A-and H-bombs. Rather, it appears that exposure to certain amounts of kinds of radiation may encourage the development of, or actually cause a person to have an “ordinary” disease which he might not have had if he were not exposed to radiation. This has been proven in Japan where there was a higher than normal incidence of leukemia in exposed persons at the peak incidence than those not exposed. Also, in the Marshall Islands, nearly all the people exposed on Rongelap to fallout at less than ten years of age have developed nodules (benign tumors) of the thyroid. Just as there is no special "radiation disease,” there also is no special treatment for persons who develop disease because of radiation. Treatment for radiation-induced leukemia is the same as for leukemia not induced by radiation. The treatment for thyroid nodules or cancer induced by radiation is the same for such diseases not induced by radiation. Exposure, as will be pointed out, apparently "disturbs" certain processes in the body's chemical system and, while after a long time there are no traces of radiation in the body, it may develop diseases because of a one- time exposure, or exposure over a period of months or years. Thus a person may develop lung cancer because of his irradiation; the cancer itself is not radioactive, and the treatment is the same as for "normal" 5 7284