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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 majority 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_
replanting
thousands of coconut trees in the
southern islands: but no funds have
been used to rehabilitate the north-
em islands. This has caused prob-
lems 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 chiefs
land.
In September (979, the radiologi-
cal information about Enewetak was
presented by the Department of En-
ergy 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 chances of 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 cuse.’S They asserted that the Department of Energy overstated the risk: “DOE tends
to exaggerate the problem,”’ said Mic-
ronesian Legal Service Director Ted
Mitchell.®
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The Enewetak people have an intense desire to return home, after 33
years on tiny Ujelang Atoll. And on
the basis of this information. the
Enjebi people voted to retum 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
“
.
i
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 sur-
veys.?
A May 1979 General Accounting
National Laboratory, has been Office report cautioned that “‘bequestioned. Dr. Roasalte Bertell. a cause of uncertainty of the long term
consultant to the Division of Stan- effects of exposure to lowlevel radidard Setting for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said of the
study:
‘The population of Enewetak has
the right to know that a value judgment has been made for them,
namely that induction of canceris
their only concern. They may, if informed about hypothyroidism. aplastic anemia, premature aging, benign tumors and other such disorders, make a different judgment.
They ‘reduced’ the radiation dose
of the inhabitants of Enjebi by averaging in the population less exposed. This is like telling one
raember of a family his or her nsk of
lung cancer is lowered if the other
ronsmoking members ofthe family
are included and an ‘average’ risk
given. [tis a scientifically ndiculous
approach to public health.
Basing a resettlement decision affecting the lives of 500 peaple on the
Bender and Brill tnadequate health
assessment would be extremely imprudent.”
ation. it is possible that the people of
Enewetak could receive doses in ex-
cess 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
cleanup project ... before resettlement of the people begins.°” This
report wasinitially withheld from the
Marshall Islands government for
political reasons.
Since deporting an independent
team of Japanese scientists invited
by Marshall Islands leaders to investigate the radiation problems in
1971, the United States has steadfastly refused to allow independent
monitoring of the Marshallese
people and their environment.
President Lyndon Johnson an-
nounced in 1968 that Bikini—site of
23 bomb tests—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
Glen Alcalay, a former Peace
Corps Volunteer in the Marshalls,
said the problem is “the tnherent
conflict of interest tn having
radiation left on Bikini” and “the
exposures to radiation of the Bikini
people do not offer a significant
threat to their health and safety.7'"
A small-scale cleanup and rehabilitation program was begun and
December [980
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 25